Tear Pearls
by LadyPrin
Summary: When a tear that fell from the eyes of one man falls into the water, and changes into a Tear Pearl, it will make one mermaid set out on a quest to win his heart, or at least to mend it. But many hardships block her path, and evil threatens everything.
1. To Become a Human

Tear Pearls

A Sailor Moon Fanfic by LadyPrin. Some of you may have known me as RoseWomen awhile back.

Disclaimer applies.

Chapter One (To Become a Human)

She sat patiently there in the shallow pool of water at the front of the large cave. The tide from the ocean was making the water rise up and down as it rushed in and out.

She wasn't worried about the water filling up the cave. Even at high tide, which wasn't for another two hours yet, the water never filled the cave, it just made an ankle deep pool over the rock floor of it.

She sat there, and watched the older man who was sitting further up in the cave work on finding certain ingredients for the potion he was about to make her.

As it floated upon the surface of the water, her long flowing silvery hair sparkled in the faint light of the crescent moon above.

"Are you sure about this Serenity?" The man asked her anxiously, pausing in his work to brush his short brown hair from his eyes.

"I am, Professor Kenji." Serenity assured him with a bright smile.

He nodded, and started putting ingredients together in a big clamshell that was his substitute for a bowl.

"You'll need to be careful after you use this." Kenji cautioned as he started grinding the ingredients with a dull piece of coral.

"I know. I'll need to stay out of the rain, and away from water at all costs." Serenity recited from her memories of all the legends of girls that had come before her.

Kenji smiled at her.

"This potion I'm making for you will not have that kind of water problem." He assured her. "This is a new century; new spells make better the old ones. It'll have a different problem, but I don't think it's one to really worry about. Instead of having to stay away from water, you'll have to stay very near it. You will be human for a few hours at a time, but after a few hours you will start to feel the urge to become a mermaid again. When you feel this urge, go to a private place where there is plenty of water. Let your legs become a fin again, and wash your fin in the water. You will know how long to do this for, and then you can turn it back into legs. You will be human for a few more hours to come, and you need not fear water on your human skin."

"Okay, I think I can do that." Serenity replied, and then added confused. "But why do I need to wash my fin?"

Kenji sighed.

"Serenity, I see you haven't learned your lessons about our own species." He said looking stern, as he threw in another ingredient. "We merpeople are half human, and half fish. How do you think we breath under water? How do you think we can talk under water?"

Serenity thought for a couple moments, and then her face brightened as the answer finally came to her.

"Our gills!" She cried happily, splashing her silvery gray tail in what little water was in the pool.

"Yes, our gills." Kenji confirmed. "The little gills we have underneath our upper scales, by our waist. That's how we breathe. Our gills pull out the oxygen in the water and give us breath. Now, if you take a fish out of water and set it in the sun, what will happen?"

"It'll die." Serenity replied solemnly.

"Yes. Why?"

"Because of no air from the water?" Serenity asked, not sure if that was the correct answer.

"That and the fact that the sun dried it up." Kenji continued. "It needs water not only to breathe, but to be . . .?"

"Hy--, hydr-- . . ." Serenity tried to say the word, but the rest of the word just wouldn't come.

"Hydrated." Kenji provided. "Yes. Just as your human part needs air, your fish part needs water. Keep it well watered, and you'll be fine."

He paused.

"For a time." He added.

"Let me guess, a time limit?" Serenity asked, not sounding the least bit surprised.

"Yes, I see you were expecting that part." Kenji admitted, smiling slightly.

Then his expression became serious.

"A time limit and one other thing." He added.

Kenji swam over to Serenity, and took her hands gently in his own. His hands were so much bigger than her delicate ones, that they covered hers completely.

"Serenity, I must ask you for something." He started to say.

"Anything!" Serenity replied enthusiastically.

"Serenity, you've been with me for fourteen years, ever since you were born, right?" Kenji asked quietly.

"Yes. You took care of me since I didn't have a mother or father." Serenity answered, with a smile on her face.

"Well, in ways you might not understand yet, I consider you as a daughter to me." Kenji explained. "And it pains me to have to ask you for something so big, but I wouldn't be asking if I didn't need it for something really special."

Serenity's face became serious for a moment.

"You didn't lose another sixty clams at the seahorse races did you?" She asked worriedly.

Kenji smiled and chuckled.

"No, that ain't special, and I haven't been to a seahorse race for the last three years." He assured her. "No, what I need is for something really special, and precious. Something that would bring great joy to both of us if I manage to succeed."

"Then ask what you need and I will give it to you before I go!" Serenity announced happily.

"Sadly it's not that simple." Kenji replied, looking tired. "Serenity, you know you're a special mermaid right?"

"Well, I know I don't have a normal hair or fin color, even for merpeople." Serenity replied thoughtfully.

"Yes, and what's more special about you is your ability to turn tears into pearls." Kenji explained. "If a tear from anyone should touch your skin, even if it's already in water, it'll change into a pearl."

"Yes, I know." Serenity prompted him to continue.

"Well, what I need from you is a thousand Tear Pearls, but not just any Tear Pearls." Kenji explained. "I know you have over a thousand Tear Pearls that you have collected over your fourteen years of life, but those Tear Pearls came from people you barely knew or didn't know at all. Aside from the fact that they're pretty and worth collecting they mean nothing to you. The Tear Pearls I need, will have to come from those you care about."

"Oh." Serenity replied softly as his words sank in.

"I know that you have fallen in love with a human man." Kenji continued. "I'm fine with that, in fact, I'm happy for you! I know it's the reason you want this potion, so that you can let him know you exist and maybe he'll love you too. I know it will be hard, but while you're up there trying to win his love, I need you to make friends with other humans. I need you to come to care for them. Once you do, you need to be there for them when they are crying, for whatever reason. Above all, comfort them, but please try to collect as many Tear Pearls as you can while you do."

"Okay." Serenity agreed, though uneasily.

"You've always been too shy, it's why you've never made friends down there in the ocean." Kenji observed softly, as Serenity looked up at him with her bright blue eyes. "But you need to overcome it, especially if you're going to win the love of this man. You're going to have to meet him if you're going to let him know you exist."

"I hadn't thought about how to do that yet." Serenity admitted.

"Well, think about it." Kenji told her as he went back to grinding the potion. "Ready yourself, Serenity. It's almost done."

Serenity nodded, swishing her tail about nervously.

She fingered the one bright blue pearl that hung around her neck on a piece of thin string that she had taken from a fishing net she had once found.

It was as small as the fingernail of her pinky finger, but more precious to her than any of the other Tear Pearls that she had.

For this Tear Pearl was from the human man she had fallen in love with two months ago.

She closed her eyes and remembered that day.

Above the water it had been bright and sunny. The beach had been crowded with humans having fun, and the water was crowded too.

Serenity had been playing secretly with them. Dodging the humans who rode big pieces of wood across the oceans waves, and splashing unsuspecting humans, anonymously starting splash fights among some of the younger ones.

Then she had gotten tired, and had swum to the rocky outcroppings further down the beach so as to rest but avoid detection.

She had been sitting on one of the big rocks just a few yards below the surface, when she heard a muffled sound above her.

She looked up, and something cool landed on her right cheek.

The tear instantly turned into a perfect tiny blue pearl that floated down to land in her outstretched palm.

She stared at it, and something unexpected happened.

A picture formed in it, so small and yet, Serenity could see every detail.

It was a picture of the ocean. It must have been a picture of the sea from above the water. It must have been the view one would see from standing on one of the ledges above her.

She stared even harder, and soon she could hear words being spoken.

A man's voice spoke them, and he spoke them in sorrow.

"I don't . . . understand." The man's voice said hesitantly.

Then the view changed from the horizon, to the face of a young woman.

Her hair was full, long and red. Her eyes were brown, almost with a reddish tinge to them.

"Darien, I know we've been dating for almost five years now." The woman replied in a flat tone. "But my feelings for you haven't grown past friendship over those years. I can't marry you. I'm sorry."

With that she turned and walked away from him, on her way to the beach parking lot.

Darien stood watching her retreating back, and just before he turned around, he whispered her name.

"Beryl."

As he looked back to the horizon, Serenity felt the sorrow and ache that filled his heart.

Then he looked down over the edge of the cliff, and the tear slid out of his eye and fell.

Serenity understood that what she was seeing and hearing was what she would see and hear if she was inside the tear itself.

As such, the last thing she saw before the tear hit the water was his face.

He had short black hair whose bangs fell into his face like it wanted to cover the eyes that were shedding tears, but they fell too short to reach that goal. Tears continued to well up in those deep blue eyes of his, but before they could fall too, he wiped them away with the sleeve of his deep green jacket.

The tear hit the water and the images were gone.

Serenity was back to sitting on the rocky bottom of the shoreline.

That man's sorrowful expression and aching heart had pulled at Serenity's heart as nothing ever had before.

Later on she had strung the pearl on a piece of string from a fishing net she had once found. It seemed each Tear Pearl she ever made always had a little hole that she could thread a line through.

Since then, she has always worn that one Tear Pearl around her neck.

She had started swimming just close enough to that ledge everyday, so that she could bob above the surface and watch.

He always came to that ledge, to sit and stare out at the horizon.

Sometimes it looked like he might be crying, but any tears he may have shed were never permitted to fall much further than his chin.

If they had been permitted, or if one had escaped, Serenity would've been right there to catch it, turn it into a Tear Pearl and string it up beside the first one.

Every time she watched him she felt the urge, the want, the need to be the one to wipe away his tears, but so long as she was a mermaid she never would be able to touch him.

Then the last time she had seen him upon that ledge, she felt so desperate to be there with him that she decided she would be.

After he had gone, she had swum as fast as she could back home. Her home was a little coral house that Professor Kenji had built long ago.

She had told him everything, and had begged him to make her a potion to turn her human.

Kenji was a Professor among the merpeople. He knew things that most merpeople did not, some about merpeople, but mostly about humans.

Being a Professor meant he also was skilled in making potions and such, and he loved doing experiments too, whether they worked out or not.

Kenji had been reluctant at first; after all, his only companion for the last fourteen years wanted to leave the ocean completely and had a good chance of never returning.

After a whole two days of thinking, and a lot of begging from Serenity, he had finally agreed.

They had started gathering things that would be needed, certain plants and other materials.

Serenity had gotten a couple of nice crabs to go up onto the beach and drag away an outfit that someone had left on a blanket. Serenity knew that she would need it after she transformed.

Now, tonight was the night she had awaited for weeks.

They were in the old cave that Kenji often used for his experiments and storage of potion ingredients.

And the time for trading a fin for legs was so near.

Serenity's heart was pounding fast with excitement, and her pulse was rapid in anticipation.

"It's ready." Kenji announced softly, breaking through Serenity's silent reverie.

Serenity dragged herself a little ways up onto the rocky floor, and tried to calm her heart as Kenji slipped over to her.

"Remember what I told you about your fin needing to be washed every few hours." Kenji reminded her as she stared at the little seashell cup he held in his hands. "And remember this too."

Serenity raised her head to look at him questioningly.

"Your time limit is three weeks." Kenji explained. "If you want to stay human longer, you'll need to do one of two things. Either come back and I'll make you another potion for an extra three weeks, or get this man to love you back and give you your first kiss. That's the only way to make the spell permanent."

"Just like the old tales." Serenity replied with a soft smile.

"Just like the old tales." Kenji repeated with a nod.

He handed the bowl to Serenity, who gently took it and was careful not to slosh and spill the two mouthfuls of purplish liquid inside.

"How will I get the Tear Pearls that I'll collect to you?" Serenity asked, looking up at Kenji for a moment.

"I'll have the dolphin stay by the shoreline." Kenji replied. "He'll wait for you to call him, and he'll come. Have the Tear Pearls in something he can carry in his mouth, and he'll bring them to me."

Serenity nodded, and started to slowly raise the cup to her lips.

"Are you really sure about this?" Kenji asked one final time.

Serenity paused with the cup less than an inch away from her full pink lips.

She looked at him over the side of the cup, and she smiled.

Her eyes were as calm and clear as Kenji had ever seen them, and he knew that when she raised the cup to her lips, tilted her head back and drank, he knew that she was as sure as the water was deep.

When the last of the liquid passed her lips, the shell dropped from her hands and fell with a splash into the pool under her.

Her eyes closed, and she gently fell back against the rock floor.

From her waist down her silvery gray tail started to change.

The scales receded into her skin and her skin turned a soft peach like her arms and face. The skin split into two parts, and thinned out to shape two long slender legs.

Her fin wasn't the only thing to change. Her hair had changed too.

Kenji knew that no one but the old had silver hair like Serenity's, and so he knew she would stand out to everyone. He also knew that there were those who he didn't want to notice his precious Serenity. So he had changed her hair from silver, to a golden blond.

However, he had kept the hair at its ankle length. He knew it was one of Serenity's best features.

The transformation was over, and Serenity was now a young human woman.

She was also out cold for the time being. It was time for Kenji to do the rest.

He quickly dressed her in the hot pink, short sleeved, knee length dress they had taken from the shore.

After that he cradled her in his arms and swam with her out of the cave.

He swam up to the beach and wriggled his way further up than he had ever gone before.

The beach was deserted at this time of night, and closed off to people for the next few hours.

He hoped Serenity would be awake before the beach started to fill up.

He laid her upon the sand, and stared at her for a moment.

She was sleeping peacefully and breathing normally. As far as Kenji could tell she was fine.

He just hoped she would stay that way.

"Take care, sweet one." He whispered to her, kissing her gently on the forehead before wriggling his way back into the water and away from shore.

Serenity woke up for just a brief moment then.

Her eyes half opened, and her left hand moved just a few inches away from her head. She felt the sand and knew where she was and that she would not have been there had the transformation not gone right.

She smiled, and sighed, and her last thought before her eyes fluttered shut again was, 'It worked.'


	2. Finding a New Home

Tear Pearls

By LadyPrin

Disclaimer applies.

Chapter Two (Finding a New Home)

Serenity had woken up an hour or so before dawn, just in time to avoid being found on the beach.

She had been so excited to finally be able to walk on legs that it took her almost all of the hour to be able to walk without falling over.

After she thought she had mastered walking, she tried running, then twirling around in the sand.

Then she had found her way out of the beach area and into the parking lot. There she had found a road, and though she wasn't sure what it was, she followed it for a few hours, being careful not to stand on it.

Soon many cars started zooming up and down the road, and she started seeing buildings and people.

She was enchanted with everything she saw, though her shyness did get the better of her. She tried to stay as unnoticed as possible, and often stood in front of a windowless wall of a building so that she could look around without blocking anybody.

She soon lost track of how far she had walked, and where it was she had walked to.

She did know one thing though; her feet were aching terribly. She wished she had thought to ask the crabs to get some shoes from the beach, but that had totally slipped her mind at the time.

At the moment she was walking in between the road and a long brick wall that was taller than she was.

After she had walked a few more yards down the sidewalk, she found the entranceway of the wall. It opened up into what looked like a beautiful park. In the middle of the park was many steps leading up to a building.

Hanging on a pole right above the entranceway, right above her head, was a sign that read:

"Welcome to Cherry Hill Temple!"

People were milling about inside the wall. They were going in and out of the temple and talking with people in stalls. It looked like they were buying little things and pieces of paper with writing on them.

Since it looked open to the public, Serenity decided to go in.

She didn't go up the steps to the temple, or to any of the stalls. Instead she stayed close to the wall and walked toward the beautiful trees that were blooming pink flowers among their leaves.

After she had walked far enough that the people behind her were hidden from view by the trees and bushes, she left the wall and went ahead into the trees.

She enjoyed the cool relief that the green grass brought to her feet, a wonderfully welcome feeling than the sidewalk of the last few hours.

A strange feeling abruptly hit her. It started at her toes, and then traveled up her legs to stop at her waist. She felt numb there, but she could also feel something else, like her blood pulsing through her veins.

She stood still for a moment, wondering what was happening, and what to do about it. Then she realized what it was. It was the urge to wash her fin.

She had to find water fast!

She looked around, but didn't see any pond at all.

'Fine then.' She thought. 'I'll try something else other than my eyesight.'

She closed her eyes, and smelled the air with her nose.

She smelled many wonderful new things like the scent of trees, their flowers, perfume from incense, and food. She smelled some other scents that she didn't like nor could she identify, but then she smelled it! Water!

It wasn't salty like the sea, but it still had that tall tell signature that all water has, rather it be the salty ocean or the pure rain.

She slowly followed her nose as it led her to a small pond nestled among the trees.

She sat by the edge, and tilted one of her feet up so she could see the sole of it. It was blistered, raw, and bleeding.

She winced.

'I hope that turning them into a fin will heal those wounds, so that when I turn it into legs again they'll be okay.' She thought to herself as she just let her legs merge back together as one, and became her fin again.

She gently slipped the tail into the water, holding the hem of the dress up so that it wouldn't get wet too.

She closed her eyes and sighed with relief.

She stayed this way for a couple minutes. When her fin started to tingle was when she knew she could return to being human.

She pulled her tail from the water, and as the fin split into two, she looked around worriedly to see if she was still alone.

Too late she saw that she wasn't alone.

A young girl was standing just outside the clearing with the pond. She was standing among the bushes.

Serenity quickly pulled her dress over her legs, which were only partially formed. She couldn't run anywhere with them like that.

"It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you!" The girl cried, stepping forward from the bushes and holding a hand out in the sign to stop. "This area is normally off limits to visitors, but you can stay all you want. We've never had the pleasure of a mermaid's company before."

Serenity stared at her, summoning up her feelings about her.

The woman just stood there patiently waiting. She wore a white blouse with a long straight red skirt, white socks and wooden sandals. Her long black hair fell to her waist, and looked purple in places where the sunlight filtered through the tree's branches and fell upon it. Her eyes were violet too, and they looked kind and gentle.

Serenity felt calm looking into them. She knew instantly that she could trust this woman, though she also felt this woman held many secrets.

"Thank you." Serenity finally softly replied. "I promise I won't be long."

"Take all the time you want." The woman offered, slowly walking toward her to sit down beside her.

Serenity smiled at her, and slipped her now fully transformed human feet back into the pool.

She immediately pulled them back out.

Blood had started to fill the water.

'I guess the wounds didn't heal.' Serenity thought to herself, grimacing as she looked at her bloody feet again.

"You're hurt!" The woman exclaimed upon seeing them.

Serenity smiled sadly at her.

"I haven't had them for a full day yet, and I've already broken them." She explained.

"Unless you broke the bones inside your legs, you haven't broken them. Blisters and cuts can be easily mended." The woman replied kindly. "If you'll let me, I can take care of them for you." 

"Please!" Serenity accepted her offer gladly.

"I'll help you into the house, and fix you up." The woman explained as she stood up.

She helped Serenity to stand, and then had Serenity to lean mostly upon her.

"By the way, my name is Rei Hino, I'm one of the caretakers here. I also live here; my grandfather owns the place. You can call me Rei. What's your name, if I may know?" Rei asked as she helped Serenity limp across the grass.

"My name's Seren—ah!" Serenity cried out as she nearly fell.

Her foot had slipped on the bloody/wet grass.

Once Rei had steadied her, she replied.

"Well, Serena the Mermaid Girl, you're welcome to my house."

~*~

Once Rei had helped her inside the temple, she had left Serenity on her bed as she had gone to get bandages.

Serenity sat there silently looking around.

'Serena . . .' She thought, trying out the name for herself. 'It's not my name, but I like it. Maybe a new life on land calls for a new name. Then I shall be Serena from now on.'

Rei came back in the room, her arms loaded with strips of white fabric and a little round box.

She placed everything on the bed, sat down, and had Serena put her feet in her lap.

Rei opened the box and scooped out a little cream, then commenced to rub it on the feet.

"It may sting a little, and they'll need time to heal," Rei explained. "But they'll heal up and be good as new. From now on, unless you're on the grass, you'll need shoes. I think we're about the same size, so maybe a pair of mine will fit you."

"Thanks!" Serena smiled at her.

Then she looked down at her feet to watch Rei wind them up, but something else caught her attention.

Gold hair.

Serena picked up the long gold strand of hair and stared at it, uncomprehending that it was her own.

"What's wrong?" Rei asked worriedly.

"Whose hair is this?" Serena asked wonderingly.

Rei froze, staring at her.

"It's yours." She replied. "Can't you tell?"

"It can't be mine!" Serena exclaimed. "Mine's silver!"

Rei stared for a moment longer and then her eyes lit up with understanding.

"When you turned human, your hair must have changed color too." She mused. "Silver isn't a normal color for young humans. A lot of young humans color their hair white, among other colors, but straight out silver is very uncommon. I'm not sure it's crossed anybody's mind to use that color, as pretty as it is."

"Oh." Serena stared at the hair a moment longer, then started twisting it around her finger. "He must have known that, and changed it to help me blend in better."

"He who?" Rei asked questioningly.

"The merman who made the potion for me." Serena replied.

"So there's more merpeople?" Rei asked with her eyes bright.

"Oh, yes! Tons!" Serena confirmed.

"That sounds so great! There! They're all bandaged up!" Rei announced. "Be careful when you walk on them. Now let's find you some shoes!"

Rei headed over to the closet and started digging around through the clothes and other *cough* junk *cough* that was on the floor in there.

"REI! Where have you disappeared to this time?" A very old sounding voice called from outside the partially opened door of the room.

Rei turned quickly and got tangled in a couple dresses.

The door swung open abruptly and Serena stared at a little, and I mean very little, old man in a smaller version of Rei's white blouse and red skirt.

The man's face, though covered with many wrinkles, stared at Serena in shock for a moment.

Serena smiled at him timidly.

"You're not Rei!" The old man exclaimed.

"Of course she's not me!" Rei exclaimed from the closet as she freed herself from the dresses and stumbled into the room.

"There you are!" The old man exclaimed. "I was afraid you'd run off on your own again!" 

"I'm fourteen Grandfather, I can take care of myself." Rei replied hotly. "I don't need you holding my hand when I go out to eat or something. Get used to it."

Rei walked over to the bed carrying a pair of red tennis shoes.

"I'll never get used to it." Grandfather replied in an over exaggerated whisper to himself.

Rei half smiled, but only because her back was to him.

Serena was giggling softly.

"So, who is this charming young lady?" Grandfather asked, walking further into the room.

"Her name's Serena." Rei replied as she knelt down and slipped the shoes on Serena's feet. "Serena, meet my Grandfather, Grandfather, Serena. She's my new friend."

"A new friend! That's wonderful! I haven't heard that kind of news for a year!" Grandfather exclaimed, as Rei shook her head in annoyance as she tied the shoelaces.

Serena smiled widely.

"There, all done." Rei announced.

She stood up and helped Serena to her feet.

"They aren't too loose are they?" Rei asked as Serena took a couple steps in them.

"Not too much, I can walk in them!" Serena assured her. "Thanks so much!"

Rei smiled widely, as she thought to herself: 'There's a mermaid walking in my shoes, this is so cool!'

Then a big rumble split the air.

It took a moment of looking and listening to realize it was Serena's stomach.

She was hungry.

"Hungry are you?" Rei asked bemused.

"Yes, I haven't eaten anything since lunch yesterday." Serena answered sheepishly.

"Well, Rei, you should take her to get something to eat!" Grandfather announced.

"Have you been to the Crown Arcade yet?" Rei asked Serena.

Serena shook her head no.

"Really?" Grandfather asked amazed. "I thought everybody in the Jubban District has been there at some point in their lives!"

"Serena's new here." Rei explained.

"Oh, okay, that'd explain it." Grandfather replied. "So where are you staying young lady?"

"Um, I don't know yet." Serena answered, thinking about it for a moment.

"Then you can stay here, we have an extra guest bedroom, and having a friend over may keep Rei more occupied with staying here than running off!" Grandfather announced fast. "I'll see you two later!"

Then he was gone.

"Talk about running off." Rei muttered sarcastically under her breath.

Then she turned to Serena with a smile.

"It'd be great if you would stay. You're welcome here and you won't have to pay anything. You can use the pond out back whenever you need to. I can't promise that I'll be around all the time, I may have to run off every now and then." Rei explained apologetically.

"I'd love to stay! I promise I won't get in the way. Once I learn the layout, I can take care of myself." Serena assured her.

"I wonder why my grandfather doesn't believe me when I say that to him." Rei mused to herself. "Come on, you're going to love the Crown Arcade."

They were walking out the front door and down the steps when Rei decided to add something.

"When we come back, I'll show you about the place, and there's something else you should know. We always eat out so you won't find any food in the place, at least not enough to make a meal out of. Neither of us can cook. Everything my Grandfather cooks is under done and everything I cook turns out burnt."

They laughed together as they walked underneath the welcome sign where two black crows perched, and walked out onto the sidewalk.

They were almost out of view when something happened to the welcome sign above the entranceway.

Two glowing red eyes appeared on it, and stared as the girls rounded the corner. Their sudden appearance sent the crows crying away from it.

The eyes narrowed and then closed.

No one below the sign ever saw it happen.


	3. Learning

Tear Pearls

By LadyPrin

Disclaimer Applies.

On the other two chapters previously, I forgot to thank all those who reviewed. Thanks to Katblue (Darien will come in at the very end of the next chapter, Tuxedo Mask on the other hand will enter sometime earlier in the next chapter), Richforce, DivaMercury, Markus777, & KagomeFire (I went back and unbolded the other two chapters. It's strange really, when I did my other stories and poems, it always stripped my story down to regular Ariel automatically whether I wanted it to or not, no matter what format I had it in to begin with. I'll have to be more careful.)!

Chapter Three (Learning About Him)

When Rei and Serena entered the Crown Arcade, it was quite crowded.

They stood quietly beside the door, as Rei looked around for someone.

"I have about three other friends, and we normally meet each other here, but it looks like they haven't arrived yet." Rei explained. "We normally sit in one of those booths, but since they're not here yet, let's sit by the counter."

Rei led Serena over to the stools that were placed by the counter, out of which only four out of the ten were occupied.

Serena watched as Rei agilely hopped onto the stool. She tried to imitate her, but nearly fell off. Rei had to reach over and pull her back onto the stool, and hold her there until she became steady.

Serena thanked her and held tightly onto the edge of the counter for support as she looked around the place.

She saw the many teenagers standing at the game machines, some were yelling in triumph of winning them, some were moaning in defeat at loosing to them. Serena was curious as to what those machines did, but she had just gotten onto the stool and she wasn't about to have to struggle to get back onto it again any time soon.

So she sat there and looked back to the counter.

A young man with short blond hair behind the counter walked by them, holding two almost overflowing drinks in his hands, and headed for the farthest end of the counter.

He did mutter to them as he passed by that he'd be with them in a moment.

Rei pointed up to the hanging menus on the wall across from the counter.

"See anything you like?" Rei asked her. "Be assured, whatever you pick will be food."

Serena smiled, and read the three menus signs.

She read the words, but they're meanings didn't make much sense.

"What's a chocolate milkshake?" Serena asked questioningly.

Rei giggled softly.

"It's a sweet treat that you drink." She answered with a smile. "Would you like one?"

Serena nodded enthusiastically.

"Okay ladies, what may I get you today?" The young man asked cheerfully as he came to stand in front of them, wiping his hands on his white apron.

Rei ordered two chocolate milkshakes, and two double cheese hamburgers.

"Coming right up." The man replied, and went through a door behind the counter to fix them.

"So, Serena, do you mind if I ask you a few questions?" Rei asked quietly.

She was very careful to keep her voice low so the other customers wouldn't hear them.

"Sure! Go ahead!" Serena replied just as quietly.

"How long do you have, as a human?" Was her first question.

"Three weeks." Serena replied. "I may decide to add three more weeks onto it, depending on how things go here."

"You can do that? Extend your time limit?" Rei asked.

"Yes." Serena answered.

"What made you decide to come here?" Rei asked, placing her elbow on the counter and leaning her chin into her hand.

Serena hesitated on answering that one. She wasn't sure if blurting out 'I'm in love with a human man named Darien' was the right thing to say or not.

"I'm looking for someone." Serena answered instead.

Rei grinned widely and was about to ask another question when the man in the apron came back to them with their food and drinks.

"Here you go!" He said cheerfully, as he carefully sat the plates and glasses down.

"Andrew?" She called.

He was walking away, but he turned and came back when he heard Rei call his name.

"Yes?" He asked politely.

"Have you seen Darien recently?" Rei asked worriedly.

Serena looked up from her food and listened hard when she heard the name.

Andrew looked down at the countertop, frowning slightly at it, and rubbed his hands on his apron.

"Well, no. I haven't." He replied. "And he's still not answering my calls."

"Okay, thanks." Rei said with a low note to her tone.

Andrew nodded and walked away.

"Darien?" Serena asked with polite interest, though she was burning inside to know if this was the Darien she was looking for.

"Darien Chiba." Rei explained as she stuck a straw into her milkshake and bent it. "He's eighteen, with looks to kill. Don't tell my grandfather this because he would freak if he knew, but Darien and I used to date a couple years back."

"Oh." Serena muttered, imitating Rei with her own straw.

"But a couple years ago, he dumped me." Rei continued. "Politely and gentlemanly, but still he dumped me for another girl. I had known for a while that our relationship wasn't working out, and I knew getting dumped was inevitable. Quite frankly, I wouldn't really care, so long as the girl he left me for was someone nice, someone who was worthy of him. But no, he had to go and get attracted to the worst possible creature on the planet Earth."

Rei had gotten a little angry over her commentary, and was scowling at her hamburger as she picked it up. Serena could have sworn that heat was emanating from her in little bursts.

"Her name is Beryl, and honestly I don't know what he saw in her to make him so devoted to her. Almost all the girls here know how she is. She's mean, evil, scheming, and doesn't care who she hurts so long as she gets what she wants." Rei was holding her burger so tightly the innards were being pushed out little by little. "I think the only reason she dated him was because he was smart, and it seemed he was moving up the ladder of success. In another few months he very possibly could've gotten a high-ranking well paying job in one of those big businesses around here, but he decided that what he really wanted to do in life was be a doctor. He decided he was going to go back to school and get a medical degree. They'd been dating for almost two years, and he had finally gotten up the courage to ask her to marry him, just a few weeks ago. Of course she said no. Why would she say yes? To her he was moving backwards, not forward. He was going to settle for something small, not go on to become rich and powerful. If he was going to do that, then Beryl would've said yes immediately, but since he wasn't she dumped him. Two days later, she started dating the next candidate for mayor. Darien was heartbroken."

Rei slapped her hamburger back onto the plate without taking a bite of it.

"He shut himself away in that apartment of his on the other side of town. He won't answer anybody's phone calls, he won't answer his door, and if he comes out at all nobody sees him. Andrew's his best friend and he even ignores him. He used to come here every day for a cup of coffee. I'm getting worried about him."

Rei finished ranting and was looking dolefully at her plate.

Then she realized what she was doing and looked back up at Serena with a small smile.

"I'm sorry for going off like this." She apologized. "Why don't you try the food?"

Serena, who had been staring at Rei with sympathy and wide eyes, looked down at her food and picked the hamburger up.

She took a big first bite and chewed it slowly.

She swallowed it and looked at Rei happily.

"It's great!" She exclaimed before taking another bite.

"I knew you'd like it!" Rei replied happily.

BEEP/BEEP/BEEP/BEEP

Serena and Rei jumped, then Serena watched as Rei pulled out a little red phone from a hidden pocket in her skirt.

She flipped it open and read the words that were scrolling fast up the screen.

She flipped it closed, and turned to Serena again.

"I'm sorry, I have to go somewhere. I'll be back in a few minutes, I promise!" Rei said hurriedly.

She hopped off the stool as Andrew came walking back behind the counter, wiping it off with a wet cloth.

"Andrew, please watch over my friend here until I get back! Thanks!" Then Rei was gone out the door, and down the street.

"She does that a lot, running out like that I mean." Andrew muttered, staring at the door. "Well, how do you like the food--?"

He had looked back down at Serena, and was stunned to see that the hamburger was gone, and she was taking the last sip of her milkshake.

"It was great! Thank you very much!" Serena replied happily.

Andrew had to smile.

"You're welcome." He replied slowly. "I've never seen anyone go through an entire hamburger and milkshake in that amount of time, it usually takes them longer."

He looked back at the door.

"Rei comes here a lot. Though we've never talked to each other enough to become friends I have noticed how many times she runs out of here. If her other friends are here, she runs out with them, sometimes never touching the food they ordered. If I've learned anything, she'll be gone for at least a half an hour." Andrew explained, and then he looked back at Serena with a smile. "I'm supposed to be watching you huh? All right then, how about another hamburger to keep you occupied? It's on the house."

Serena glanced at the ceiling and Andrew could tell she didn't understand his last statement.

"I mean it's free." He explained gently, though how she didn't know that expression was beyond him.

"OH, thanks! I'd love that!" Serena replied happily, beaming at him.

Andrew just couldn't help feeling happy himself; her sunshine smile was catching.


	4. Making Friends & Another Transformation

Tear Pearls

By LadyPrin

Disclaimer Applies.

To those who reviewed, thanks Katblue, Jingy5 (You'll see whether she is or not in this chapter), Markus777 (You'll see in this chapter -), KagomeFire (You're welcome, and thanks!), Champion of Justice, Richforce, DivaMercury, Neokstar (I guess you could say a mix, though I hadn't meant to make it so), and GuitarBabe2005!

Chapter Four (Making Friends, and Another Transformation)

Andrew was wrong; it didn't take Rei a half an hour to come back.

It took her a full hour, and when she did come back she wasn't alone.

Three other girls were with her, one of which was leaning on Rei heavily as her right leg was bandaged from calf to knee.

Rei gave Serena the 'one minute' finger, and walked with her friends over to the booth by the window where they normally sat.

The girl who had been leaning on Rei was a tall girl, with brunette hair that was up in a ponytail. Her green eyes winced in pain as she scooted onto the bench.

The smallest girl of the four had short blue hair, and blue-eyes, which were kind and gentle as she slid in beside the brunette. She had a timid air about her, but she looked very professional as she asked the brunette questions about how she was feeling.

The last of Rei's three friends was a blond whose hair came to her waist and was held back by a big red ribbon. She also had light blue eyes and she was watching the brunette carefully too. She sat on the other bench opposite the blue and brunette.

Andrew hurried over to the table looking at the brunette worriedly.

"What happened to you Lita?" He asked with concern.

"Got in a fight, but be assured, I didn't lose." Lita replied arrogantly.

Andrew half smiled, but it was gone as quickly as it had come when Lita suddenly slapped her head onto the table and groaned.

She slapped her right hand onto the tabletop before raising her head with a pleading expression.

"Can I have some ice, Andrew? Please?" She asked, pain evident in her voice.

"Sure, be right here!" Andrew exclaimed as he hurried away into the back room.

Serena sat on the stool with one leg stretched toward the floor, watching silently as Lita rocked back and forth slightly.

Rei walked over to Serena, and glanced toward both their plates.

Rei's was still there, though the hamburger was now cold.

Rei saw that Serena's plate and glass was empty, and she smiled at her.

"Did you enjoy the food?" She asked.

"Yes, all ten of them!" Serena replied, still looking at Lita.

"TEN?" Rei cried in shock.

Serena turned to look at her, as Rei's three friends looked over at them after hearing Rei's outburst.

"Five milkshakes and five hamburgers!" Serena explained. "After I finished the first one, Andy said that I could have more! Don't worry, they were free!"

"Thank the fire goddess they were free." Rei whispered, and then said at normal level. "How could you eat all . . . all that?"

"They were delicious and I was hungry." Serena replied simply. "Did I do something wrong?" 

"No, no, nothing wrong!" Rei assured her quickly. "It's just, I've never known anybody who could eat that much in so short a time. I think you made a new record."

Serena beamed at that.

Then it hit Rei as to what she had called Andrew.

"Andy?" Rei asked, for Andrew had once been called that by another girl and that girl had gotten an (albeit polite) "please don't call me that ever again" reply.

Andrew came back then with a dishtowel full of ice in a makeshift icepack.

"Come over and join us Serena!" Rei offered.

Serena slid off the stool and walked with Rei over to the table, as Andrew handed Lita the icepack.

"So, Andrew, you're allowing Serena to call you Andy?" Rei asked with a smile.

The others glanced up at him with grins.

Andrew blushed slightly and shrugged.

"Why not?" He asked. "It's not like she wants to date me or anything."

With that he quickly walked back to the counter and commenced to wipe it to a pure shine.

The girls giggled.

"Now we know the reason behind the madness!" The blond stated with a mischievous grin.

"Yeah, he won't allow any girl to call him Andy if they have the intention of trying to get a date out of him." Lita added, placing the cold icepack on her leg.

"Serena, I'd like you to meet Lita, Ami and Mina!" Rei introduced them.

Lita half waved, Ami the blue haired girl shyly smiled, and Mina the blond waved energetically.

"You can have my seat, Serena." Ami offered as she slid out of it. "I have to go to the bathroom."

"Thank you!" Serena replied, sliding in next to Lita.

"Are you okay?" She asked Lita, worriedly.

"I'm fine." Lita assured her. "Like I said, I got into a fight and now I have a long gash down my leg, but it'll heal. No big deal, really."

Her eyes said otherwise as they started tearing up from the pain.

Serena watched the tears form, and as they gently fell from Lita's face, Serena quickly and quietly reached under the table and caught them. They landed in her palm and she put them in one of her pockets. No one saw her do this they were too intent on watching Lita's face.

Mina eventually decided that it was time to get off of Lita's case. If she were in too much pain they would find out one way or the other. Her attention quickly focused on Serena.

"That's a new hairstyle, I haven't seen it before!" She exclaimed.

While Rei was gone, just after Serena had finished her last hamburger, Serena had asked Andrew for a couple things to stand in for hair holders. He had found her two rubber bands, and using them she had put her hair up in buns, one on each side of her head. This had been her favorite kind of hairstyle for a while. She had come up with it on her own! At the moment though, because she hadn't had anything to comb it with, the streamers were kind of tangled.

"Here, let me help with those streamers!" Mina cried as she fished a red plastic comb from her purse.

Rei let her slip out from the booth, where she then came to kneel beside Serena and started to gently comb out her tangles.

"I like the hairstyle, and you've got such beautiful hair! I don't know of anyone else who has hair this long, but I must say that dress doesn't suit you!" Mina stated, critically eyeing what she could see of the hot pink dress that Serena was still wearing. "Girls, I think it's time for a shopping trip!"

"I don't think Lita's up for one, you know how we get carried away." Rei explained.

"It's okay, I'll stay here." Lita replied. "I'll have an endless supply of ice, and I won't have to move very far. You all go ahead. I don't want to cheat Mina out of her fun, or Serena out of the chance of having a brand new wardrobe."

Rei and Mina grinned.

Serena grinned too. She didn't know what a 'wardrobe' was, but whatever it was she figured it was a good thing when put to the word shopping.

~*~

When Ami had come back to the booth, she had agreed to come along, as she needed a new book on Human Anatomy for Science Class.

Before they had left however, Serena felt the urge to wash her fin again. She had quietly asked Rei if there was any water nearby where she could wash her fin without getting noticed.

Rei had gone with her to the bathroom so she could instruct Serena in its use. She didn't want Serena to use the water from the toilet instead of the water from the sink, for instance.

After that they had gone to the nearest clothing store.

It turns out that Mina, thoug only fourteen years old, was a highly paid teen model for a couple of local magazines and thus was able to have these lavish shopping trips. Turns out she, Ami, Rei and Lita had them often.

After trying on many articles of clothing it was decided that the colors that suited Serena best was deep yellow or gold, blue, silver, white, and red.

Ami and Mina had separated from Serena and Rei to scout out some clothing options.

Rei and Serena were just browsing when Serena came upon some jewelry making supplies.

"What's this used for?" She asked, holding up a small spool of thread.

"That's used for stringing beads together to make necklaces and bracelets." Rei explained, picking up another spool of thread. "If you'd like to make some, I'd suggest using this kind, it's waterproof."

When all the shopping was done, Serena had three different outfits, three different pairs of shoes, a purse, some hair holders, and two spools of waterproof thread.

After they had paid for all this, they took her to the dressing rooms to change her clothes.

She put on a short-sleeved red blouse, a pair of yellow shorts, and yellow tennis shoes. The girls were disappointed that she couldn't wear high heels until after her feet healed, but that didn't discourage them from making one of the three pairs of shoes high heels.

Mina helped put her hair back up with the new hair holders, and when they weren't looking Serena slipped Lita's Tear Pearls into the new yellow purse.

The sun was beginning to set by the time they separated.

Mina and Ami went back to the Crown Arcade to see if Lita needed help getting home, and Rei helped Serena carry some of her bags back to the temple.

When they were walking under the Welcome sign, Rei felt the eyes upon her this time, but when she looked up they weren't there.

She was alerted to them now though, so her eyes darted around anxiously, looking for any sign of danger.

They reached the porch and sat the bags down under the overhanging.

"Grandpa?" Rei called out, trying to keep the worry from her voice.

Serena wasn't oblivious to her sudden shift in mood, and was looking around worriedly too, though for what she didn't know.

"I'll be back in a few minutes." Serena told Rei after a couple seconds of standing there just looking around. "I'm going to the pond out back." 

"Okay." Rei replied after a moment.

Serena walked off the porch and down the path that led to the pond, taking only her purse with her.

Rei walked into the house still calling for her grandpa. 

Once by the pond, Serena slipped her shoes and shorts off and grew back her fin.

She sat on the water's edge, splashing her tail gently in and out of the water.

She pulled from her purse the spools of thread and sat them beside her on the grass. Then she dumped the seven Tear Pearls she had collected from Lita out into her palm.

She gasped.

These Tear Pearls were a deep shade of green with a slightly lighter shade of green swirling silkily around in them.

Serena wondered if she'd be able to see anything in them too, like she had in Darien's Tear Pearl.

Serena picked one Tear Pearl up gently between her thumb and forefinger and stared at it.

A picture did form.

Lita seemed to be lying on the ground, and she was staring up at what can only be called a monster.

It was vaguely human in shape, but its skin was all deep sickening shades of purple. Its eyes were red and glowing, and it didn't have a mouth. Hatred seemed to spew forth from it in waves. It's hands, or claws would better describe them, were reaching for her. The nails were several inches long and looked deadly. The fresh blood that trickled down them did not help, and Serena guessed that those nails were what gashed Lita's leg.

Fear and anger swelled in Lita as she raised a white-gloved arm up, though she knew that it would do her little good.

"Venus Love Me Chain ENCIRCLE!" Someone cried from out of Lita's view.

A gold glowing chain of hearts flew out of nowhere and wrapped around the monster. The girl on the end of the chain gave it a hard jerk and the monster was yanked away from Lita, tumbling over backwards by the force.

"Stay away from her!" The same voice yelled.

Then two girls came to stand in front of Lita, in defensive positions facing the monster.

Lita could only see the backs of them. One had short blue hair; one had long black hair.

The blue haired girl was wearing a short-sleeved white bodice and a short dark blue skirt. She had dark blue knee high boots, and elbow length white gloves with three blue rings around the elbow.

From what Lita could see through her hair, the other girl seemed to be wearing the same thing, only where the other girl's outfit was blue, hers was red, and she wore red high heels instead of boots.

"Are you okay Jupiter?" The black haired girl turned halfway around to look at Lita.

She had burning violet eyes, and wore a thin v shaped gold tiara on her forehead with one small red jewel at its point.

Serena felt she knew her, but at the moment couldn't place her.

"My leg's hurt, and I don't think I can stand up!" Lita replied, the feeling of relief mingling with her emotion of pain.

"Don't worry, Jupiter. We'll finish her off." The blue haired one assured her confidently.

Then Lita watched as both the blue haired girl and the black haired girl converged on the monster.

"Mars Fire IGNITE!" The black haired one cried.

"Mercury Aqua ILLUSION!" The blue haired one cried.

"Venus Crescent V SMASH!" The third voice cried, the same one who had called forth the chain, but had yet to come into Lita's view.

All their attacks combined and with a big display of lights, the monster disappeared with nothing more than a scream.

A very hideous, painful scream.

Then all three girls converged on Lita, helping her to stand up and walk.

The third girl who's voice Serena heard twice, had the same outfit style but in white and orange. She also had blue eyes and blond hair.

Serena felt she knew all these girls, but couldn't figure out from where.

And she couldn't figure out why they were calling Lita, Jupiter.

Just as Lita looked down at her leg to see the gash, a chorus of angry and scared bird cries split the air and it wasn't coming from the Tear Pearl.

Serena quickly jerked her head up, the image that was formed in the Tear Pearl dissolved, and she looked around.

She felt that something was wrong, but couldn't pinpoint where or what.

She quickly pulled her feet from the water. She turned her fin back into legs, feeling sure that she was wasting the precious seconds it took. She slid the pearls back into the purse while she waited, and pulled her shorts and shoes over to her side.

When her feet were back, she quickly pulled on her shorts, and her shoes just stuffing the shoelaces in around her feet, and she ran down the garden path back to the temple.

She made it to the edge of trees before she stopped in her tracks.

Rei was on the porch in a defensive crouch, another monster was facing her from the steps.

This monster was similar to the one Serena had seen in the Tear Pearl, but was a deep shade of gray, and was much larger.

It's red eyes shone madly as they stared at Rei.

"Finally, I have found the home of the Red Scout." It hissed, though the voice seemed to come from the air around it because it didn't have a mouth.

"And defend her home the Red Scout will!" Rei declared loudly.

She raised her right hand in the air, and cried.

"Mars Star Power MAKE-UP!"

Red light blazed around her, and in split seconds she transformed into the same person Serena had seen in the Tear Pearl, the one in the red skirt.

Serena put the puzzle together and realized that the other two girls must be Ami and Mina.

'That's how they became friends.' Serena thought to herself as she hid behind a tree to watch Rei and the monster. 'They fight together.'

"I am the Scout of Fire and Passion, I am Sailor Mars, and you have picked the wrong home to mess with!" Mars cried angrily. "Mars Fire IGNITE!"

Serena now got to see the full form of this attack.

Fire came forth from Sailor Mars's hands in fireballs, and hit the monster with a lot of force, but though it singed the monster it didn't seem to have done any good.

Sailor Mars looked at the temple, and then at the path to the pond and seemed to come to a quick decision.

She ran toward the monster, and then at the last minute jumped. She jumped so high that she cleared the monster, and landed safely on the other side.

As she ran down the steps she flipped open her phone, though where the phone came from since her pockets had disappeared Serena didn't know.

"Girls, I have a youma at my house! I've transformed, but my attacks aren't doing much good. I've got to get it away from here before grandpa or Serena gets hurt. Meet me at the park, we'll take it down there!" Serena heard Mars say into the phone, before Mars was out of earshot and out of the temple grounds.

The monster was right on her heels.

Serena wanted to do something to help. Her first friend in this new land, her first friend in general, was in trouble! She had the magic of fire to fight with, but it wasn't doing much good. Even if the other three girls joined her to fight, Lita was badly hurt, and this monster was bigger and tougher than the last one.

She wished so deeply to help them.

"AH!" She cried, as white light shined forth from her chest.

Out from her chest appeared a locket. A red and gold heart shaped locket, with four red, blue, green and yellow jewels placed evenly around a gold crescent moon in the middle.

It fell into her hands with almost no weight at all, like a feather lands in an outstretched hand.

Words came to her lips and before she could even think about it, she shouted them.

"Moon Prism Power MAKE-UP!"

In a flash of rainbow colored lights, Serena transformed herself.

In seconds she had gone from part time human and part time mermaid, to super human heroine. She wore the same outfit as the others, only her skirt was deep blue, the bow on her chest was red, she wore a red choker with a small crescent moon, and in her ears were crescent moon earrings. On her legs she wore knee high red boots with a crescent moon on each of them, and on her arms she wore white elbow length gloves with three red rings. On her forehead was a thin v shaped tiara with one red jewel at the point, on her buns were two huge red jewels, and on her chest nestled in the center of the bow was the locket.

Serena only took one second to look at what she could see of herself before she was off and running out the entranceway after Mars and the monster.

She didn't know where this park was, but she was being led by her feelings. Her feelings told her which way was the right way, or the wrong way.

She was briefly aware of the stares that people gave her as she ran by them on the street.

She briefly noted the hushed statements and questions that people spoke.

"Look at her, is she a Sailor Scout?" 

"She looks like one! Which one is she?"

"I don't know, I think she's a new one!"

When she finally came to the park, she did not like what she saw.

Jupiter was down, and she wasn't moving.

Venus had her chained wrapped around one of the arms of the monster, and was pulling, but her strength couldn't match that of the monsters.

Mars was trying to revive Mercury who seemed to have been thrown into a tree, and she wasn't yet able to see straight, much less stand.

Before Serena could get within speaking distance of them, the monster gave a jerk of its arm and sent Venus flying over its head through the air.

She would've landed painfully if someone hadn't caught her.

"Thanks Tuxedo Mask!" Venus cried as he lowered her down to the ground.

The new arrival had on a black and white tuxedo, a black top hat that shone in the rising moon, a long black cape, and he hid his eyes behind a thin white mask.

"No problem, Venus." He replied.

Then from within his cape he produced a long stemmed red rose and threw it at the monster.

It left a long scratch down its side, and it didn't like that.

"Tuxedo Mask, we haven't a clue how to get rid of it!" Venus cried. "Jupiter was able to stand up long enough to join her attack with all of ours, but it didn't do much damage. The thing is still fighting. Now Jupiter's down, Mercury's down, and –"

Her summary was cut short, when Tuxedo Mask grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her out of the way of a clutching claw as it swiped at her.

"And none of us have an attack that is powerful enough to bring it down!" She finished hurriedly.

Serena decided it was time to intervene.

"Hey! Ugly thing!" She cried at the monster to get its attention.

She hadn't thought about what she would do once she got it, but thankfully she didn't need to.

Unbidden, words came to her mouth again, and she yelled them with a confidence she didn't yet feel.

"I fight for love and justice, I am Sailor Moon, and in the name of the Moon, I shall punish you!" She cried, striking a pose.

"Great, another one!" It hissed. "How many of you dang scouts are there?!"

It made to run at her.

Serena, now Sailor Moon, reached for her tiara, and cried these words as she spun and threw it.

"Moon Tiara ACTION!"

The tiara became a disc of light and flew straight into the torso of the monster.

The monster was ripped apart by the light, and disintegrated, but not before one of her claws reached Sailor Moon.

Before it disintegrated, it scratched her deeply on the right hand.

"AH!" She cried in pain, but her cry was lost in the scream of the monster.

The air was silent for a few minutes afterward.

Mars was still beside Mercury, holding onto her arm and staring at Sailor Moon. Mercury had woken up and was staring groggily at Moon too.

Tuxedo Mask still had a hold of Venus by the shoulders and they too were staring at Sailor Moon.

Sailor Moon was holding her right hand to her chest, as red blood slowly came through her white satin glove, staining it crimson. A small trickle of blood ran down her arm and dripped off her elbow.

Without shedding tears of pain, Sailor Moon raised her head, and with her left hand caught her rebounding tiara and slipped it back onto her forehead.

Then she looked at Jupiter, still lying on the ground, unmoved.

The other Sailor Scouts and Tuxedo Mask watched Sailor Moon silently as she came to stand a few yards from Jupiter.

Not knowing why, Sailor Moon reached with her left hand up and behind her. Not knowing how, she pulled her hand back and was holding a wand with a large crescent moon on it's top.

More words came to her then, and she let them out.

"Moon Healing ESCALATION!" She cried, raising the wand up in the air, and then circling it around once.

Gold light surrounded Jupiter, slowly turning green.

When all the light had turned green, it vanished, and Jupiter rolled over.

Then she sat up and groaned.

"I feel like a bus hit me." She complained, and then her eyes went wide as she saw her leg.

No wound was there.

"My leg! It's healed!" She cried in disbelief and joy.

That's when the others seemed to break out of their trance.

Mars, Mercury and Venus rushed over to Jupiter and helped her to stand.

All exclaimed happy comments about the healing, and Venus rushed to tell Jupiter all about how the new scout came out of nowhere, destroyed the monster and then healed Jupiter.

While the scouts talked among themselves, Sailor Moon thought it was best if she left. She didn't want attention drawn to her, and her hand pained her horribly.

She left the park quietly, but not unseen.

Tuxedo Mask had been watching her and saw her go.

He quickly followed, thus both were out of the park before the other scouts noticed.

"We have to find her!" Venus cried.

"I want to thank her for saving us and healing me!" Jupiter exclaimed.

"I'd like to know who she is!" Mars cried.

"We need to know what she knows about the mission!" Mercury added.

They ran after her.

Sailor Moon soon realized she was being followed, and her Sailor instincts took hold. She jumped to a low rooftop and from there she jumped to another rooftop.

Tuxedo Mask lost her trail, and then he realized that the other scouts were also looking for her.

Although he was burning to know who this new scout was, he wanted to find out alone. So he gave up the chase and headed back to his apartment.

The other scouts however had not lost her trail.

Thanks to Mercury's Super Visor she was able to track Sailor Moon's power.

After a few minutes Sailor Moon paused in her rooftop jumping and realized that she was now on the opposite side of town, far away from Cherry Hill Temple.

She felt that she needed to get back to the temple, and have her hand taken care of before Rei got back.

"Sailor Moon?" She heard someone call her name from a couple buildings behind her.

She turned and jumped down from the rooftop, not taking into account that it was a seven-story drop.

She needn't of worried though, as she landed on a balcony halfway down.

She landed facing the clear sliding doors, and quickly turned around to jump over the railing and get the rest of the way down.

"AH!" She cried as she came face to face with a man.

And not just any man.

Darien!

He had cried out in surprise at the same time she had, and was staring at her in shock.

Sailor Moon wanted so desperately to talk to him now, but she knew she had no time if she wanted to avoid the others.

She skirted around him and was about to jump over when she thought of something she needed to say to him.

"Darien Chiba," She began firmly, and he looked taken aback at her knowing his name. "You may be heartbroken, but you're never going to heal if you keep yourself isolated like this. You're friends are all worried sick about you, and as much as you may feel that the world stopped moving when she said no, it didn't. It's still moving and moving fast. You need to get back in the world before you miss it completely!"

With that, she jumped.

Darien leaned over the railing to watch her run off down the street and out of his sight.

He looked up as he heard the other scouts above him, and then quickly he stepped into his living room, sliding the doors shut.

He watched from the shadows of his living room as all four scouts landed on his balcony and then jumped off, intent on catching up to Sailor Moon.

After they were gone, Darien stepped back out onto his balcony and leaned on the railing.

He let the cool night breeze that he hadn't noticed before now ruffle his short black hair and he wondered.

He wondered how this new scout had known his full name. How she had known that he was heartbroken. How she had known that the love of his life had said no to him when he asked her to marry him. How?

He was glad the new scout had gone, for he couldn't come up with a decent reply to her firm scolding.

Meanwhile on the other side of town, Sailor Moon had made it back to Cherry Hill Temple.

She had detransformed at the pond, and had quickly washed her hand in the water.

She had then gathered her things and ran inside to find the bandages that Rei had used to wrap her feet up in.

She quickly found it and bandaged up her hand as neatly as she could in a hurry.

Then she slowed down her flight to look normal, and carried the bags of clothes and shoes into Rei's room. On her way to the room, she found Rei's grandpa asleep in his bedroom.

Serena sat down on the bed and pulled out the thread and Tear Pearls.

She measured enough thread to make a bracelet, but she needed something to cut it with. She normally would've used a sharp seashell, but she didn't have one here. So she searched through Rei's writing desk and found something else that was sharp.

Scissors.

She cut the thread and then commenced to string the Tear Pearls onto it.

At the last moment, she changed her mind about putting all of them on it.

After she tied the bracelet, and slipped it onto her wrist, she untied the thread from around her neck, the one that held Darien's Tear Pearl. She quickly slipped the last one of Lita's Tear Pearls onto it and retied it around her neck.

At that moment Rei came to the doorway.

"Oh, you're in here!" She exclaimed happily.

She looked tired, and worn out.

"Yes, I came back from the pond, and you weren't here. I figured you'd gone somewhere important again so I carried the bags in. Your grandpa's sleeping in his bedroom." Serena replied, hoping that Rei would be too tired to notice her hand.

Not so lucky.

"Oh, okay. Serena! Your hand?" Rei exclaimed, rushing forward to hold the wounded hand.

Serena looked around quickly, saw the scissors and had an idea.

"I cut myself on these." Serena fibbed, holding up the scissors. "I was trying to cut the thread so I could make myself a bracelet."

"Oh." Rei responded, looking relieved. "I hope it's not too deep. It looks like you did a pretty good job of patching it up. Listen, I'm tired so I'm going to bed now. You can sleep here in my bed. I'm going to sleep in the fire room. Okay?"

"Okay, thanks!" Serena exclaimed.

Rei smiled and left the room, closing the door behind her.

Serena felt a little ashamed of fibbing to Rei, but she felt that it wasn't the time to tell anyone about this new development, this new third side to herself.

She glanced at the yellow purse where she had hidden the locket for now that was lying on the dresser.

She felt like she needed to understand it herself, before she told anyone else.

And upon thinking about the last few events of the day, she couldn't believe she had her first encounter with Darien and had spoken so bluntly to him . . .

She picked up the pillow, flopped down on her back onto the bed, and covered her blushing face with it.

'Darien.' Was her last conscious thought before sleep claimed her for the night.


	5. Save the Locket, Catch the Thief!

Tear Pearls

By LadyPrin

Disclaimer Applies.

Thanks to Kana07, Neokstar, Valkyrie Celes (Yes, you have it right on! Serena has the ability to see in the pearl the events that made the person cry!), Champion of Justice, Sayain46, Katblue (There's a reason as to why Serena/Sailor Moon hasn't cried yet.), Jingy5, Markus777 (Oh, one of the inner scouts will be finding out Serena's identity soon! Also, I feel comfortable enough to let you know, yes when the other scouts find out it will be because her cover slips! Serena meets Darien again, in this chapter!), Richforce, Ra, and Honest Beauty (I know how you feel. I'm still waiting for a couple SM fanfics to be update, but they have been updated since 2003. My hope for them is almost dead.).

Author's Note: I have this feeling that you might find this chapter a bit, crappy to put it bluntly. I'm sorry if you do, I have been having a bit of a writer's block on this chapter. Though it may seem sorry, this chapter does have important information so please read it and stick with me! I promise the next chapter will be better! I may rewrite this chapter eventually.

Chapter Five (Save the Locket, Catch the Thief!)

Serena woke with a start as the sound of a shrill shriek broke through her scattered and misty dreams, of what she couldn't remember.

She groggily looked around her, for the sound came from very nearby.

On the bedside table there was an alarm clock, and it was going off. Its LED light was flashing the time (6:30 AM) and it was vibrating slightly from the force of its shriek.

Serena scooted up on the bed, and reached over to pick up the clock.

After looking at it for a couple seconds, she threw the covers off of her and swung her legs over the side.

She had that urge to wash her fin again and it was getting stronger by the minute, but she wanted to first stop that horrible sound.

She walked through the halls of the Temple with the alarm clock's shrieks rebounding off the walls. She opened all the doors she came across and looked inside them for Rei.

'Which one is the Fire Room?' Serena wondered to herself as she closed a door.

The next door she opened was the Fire Room.

It was a small room with a pit in the very middle, a small fire blazing at its center.

Rei was laid out along side the fire, a blanket over her and a pillow under her head.

Serena opened the door wide, unintentionally letting the sound of the alarm clock pierce the sleepy air of the Fire Room.

Rei jerked awake, raised her hand in the air and was about to call out something when she paused.

Still sitting down, with her hand still in the air and her mouth hanging slightly open, Rei half turned toward the door to look at Serena.

Serena held up the alarm clock toward her with a questioning expression.

Rei let out a sigh, and threw off her blanket. She walked over to Serena and after pressing a couple buttons, turned off the sound.

"Thank you." Serena said as she took the clock back.

"You're welcome." Rei yawned, covering her mouth with a hand. "And thank you for bringing it to me, I never would have heard it in here."

Rei walked back over to her blanket and pillow and started gathering them up.

"I have to go to the pond for a moment." Serena informed Rei, staring at the fire uncertainly.

"Okay." Rei replied, covering another yawn. "After that you can get dressed, and I'll walk you half way to the Crown Arcade for breakfast."

"Okay, thanks!" Serena replied, stepping back.

Before she closed the door though, Serena saw Rei stand up with the roll of blanket and pillow and reach out her left hand toward the fire.

The tip of the fire rose up just enough to reach her hand and they touched for just a moment.

Then Rei headed over to the side of the room, and Serena quickly closed the door.

'She's the fire scout. Of course she'd be able to touch fire without being burned.' Serena thought to herself with a small smile as she walked through the Temple.

After she was done at the pond, she came back in and got dressed in a white short-sleeved shirt tucked inside a blue pair of short-legged coveralls. She slid her feet into a pair of silver slip on shoes, and quickly slipped on the bracelet of Lita's Tear Pearls.

She met Rei at the door, and they walked down the front steps together.

"You're only walking half way with me?" Serena asked questioningly.

"Yes, I have to go to school today." Rei answered slinging her school bag over her shoulder. "I go to school five days a week. I don't really think I need to, but Grandpa wants it."

She shrugged.

"Here's some money so you can pay Andrew for breakfast." Rei handed Serena a few dollars and watched her put it in her purse. "I don't mind if you wander about, but don't wander too far from the Crown Arcade. There's a bad side to every town and Tokyo's no exception. I'll meet you at the Crown Arcade by four thirty, okay?"

"Okay!" Serena exclaimed happily.

After a minute of comfortable silence, Rei looked over at Serena.

"How's your hand?" She asked with concern.

"Uh? Oh." Serena held her hand up to look at it. She had forgotten to re bandage it earlier. "It hurts slightly, but nothing too bad." 

"Hmm." Rei muttered to herself, look at Serena's smiling face with suspicion, but she soon gave in. "Speaking of wounds, how's your feet?"

"I think they're good now!" Serena exclaimed happily, glad to have changed the subject. "The socks you gave me are very comfortable, as are the shoes!"

Rei smiled.

"Rei, what's a fire room?" Serena asked questioningly. "You said that room you were sleeping in is one, but what's it for?"

"Oh." Rei said, and responded thoughtfully. "I like fire, it's one with my spirit. When I'm nearby fire, I feel calm and peaceful. That is the room where I go to be alone, to think and be calmed. That fire is always burning, in that room, it's always safe. Also, as a priestess I can read the fire, meaning the fire sometimes speaks to me by showing me images of things."

"Fire and water, opposites yet friends." Serena stated with a big smile.

"Yeah! Friends!" Rei agreed with a smile, patting her on the shoulder. "I must leave you now. Be safe until we meet later, okay?" 

"Okay! Bye!" Serena replied, and waved until Rei had rounded the far corner to her left.

Serena continued walking, and her thoughts drifted to the locket in her purse.

She pulled it out and looked at it.

It dangled on its chain from which she held it, and it glinted in the soft new sunlight.

As she stared, she half expected something to happen, but after a couple moments of nothing she sighed and lowered her arm.

She stared at the sky over the buildings in front of her. A couple birds were flying in a circle around each other, dancing together.

Serena smiled, but it disappeared in a flash when she felt a sharp tug on her left hand.

She looked down in time to see the chain of the locket slip through her tightly clenched fingers.

"HEY!" She yelled as she started running after the little boy that was trying to run through the crowd ahead, the locket clenched tightly in his little fist.

Serena only had eyes for him, which was probably half the reason why she didn't see Darien just ahead of her. The other half of the reason was probably because he had his back to her.

Her mind quickly noted a person was in the way, and she tried to automatically dodge him, but didn't quite make it.

Her shoulder caught him on his arm and the force of it spun them both around.

Serena screamed "SORRY!" at the top of her lungs before starting her run again, though in a much more staggering line than before.

Darien recovered his balance again, and lifted his dark sunglasses off of his eyes for a moment, so he could stare at her quickly disappearing back and hair streamers.

"Moving fast, yeah, no kidding! Tornado fast!" He muttered to himself, pulling his sunglasses back down over his eyes. "If this pain in my left arm is what I would've been missing than I should've just stayed in my apartment."

He turned right to go into the Crown Arcade.

He went over to his normal stool by the counter and sat down, only then removing his sunglasses.

"Darien!" Andrew cried joyfully, coming over to meet him. "I've been worried sick about you! I'm so glad to see you out of that apartment of yours!"

"I've been out of it a couple of times recently." Darien muttered defiantly.

Andrew paused.

"Okay, let me rephrase that." Andrew replied. "I'm so glad to you see you out and mingling with us at the Crown Arcade once again! Better?" 

Darien looked at him with a tired half grin.

"Better." Darien answered.

Andrew chuckled.

"Your usual coming right up!" He announced, giving Darien the thumbs up before walking away. 

Darien slouched over onto the counter, and waited with a dull expression on his face.

~*~

Serena had chased the little boy what felt to her like halfway across town.

Serena was about ready to give up when she heard a yell somewhere ahead of her.

This part of town was almost void of people, but Serena couldn't see the boy because he had rounded a corner, and the scream was coming from around that corner.

Serena rounded it quickly, nearly running into the brick wall of the next building.

She froze in her tracks.

The little boy, he looked to be about twelve, was struggling to get free from something that had him by the throat.

The creature that held him wasn't human; she could tell that much by the tentacle that was wrapped around the boy's throat and squeezing. It had its mouth open in an evil smile and was showing yellowish fangs.

Serena looked back at the boy and saw that he still had her locket clenched in his hand. He was holding it so tightly his knuckles were turning white.

'Protect him!' She silently commanded her locket, not having a clue if it was of any good.

It blazed suddenly and brightly.

The creature was blinded and in shock dropped the boy who collapsed on the ground in front of it.

He lay there gasping for breath as the monster thrashed its tentacles around above him.

He moved his head back enough to look at Serena as she ran toward him.

He was tired and his knuckles weren't the only things white.

His eyes roamed back to the locket in his hand, its light gone.

Then before Serena could open her mouth to instruct him to, the boy threw the locket at her.

She caught it and transformed.

She wasted no time in destroying the monster, as its eyesight was returning rapidly.

She quickly ran to the boy's side, and looked him over. Apart from the thick bruise that was starting to form around his neck like a choker, he just seemed exhausted.

'It was taking his life energy?' Sailor Moon asked herself as she touched the boy's forehead, gently sending some of her energy into him.

The boy fully opened his dark green eyes and grinned clownishly at her.

"I'm never stealing anything again." He muttered, as Sailor Moon helped him to stand up.

Sailor Moon detransformed as the boy brushed off his green vest and yellow sleeves.

"I'm sorry about that." The boy apologized with a bow. "It won't happen again."

"I hope not!" Serena stated firmly. "What's your name?"

"It's Sammy." The boy replied, brushing his short messy brown hair out of his eyes. "Sammy Tuskino, and thank you for saving me! You're the new Sailor Scout huh? Sailor Moon?"

"Yes, but you can call me Serena while I'm not transformed." Serena confirmed as she started walking him back toward the Crown Arcade. "So, why were you trying to steal my locket?"

Sammy was silent for a moment and then he started explaining.

"I never wanted to become a thief, but for the last few years I've been stealing things like that from tourists and sometimes from stores. The reason being, I sell them so that I can pay this private investigator so he can find my mom. She's been missing ever since I was four months old. Most everybody thinks she either ran off or is dead, I don't think she ran off and I don't think she's dead! So I've collected and sold things like that locket for the last two years. I thought your locket looked like was worth a lot. I never figured I'd be stealing from a Sailor Scout."

"Well, it's okay if you don't do it anymore." Serena replied. "I've never known my mother or father so I think I know how you must feel. Maybe I can help, though how I don't know yet." 

"You'd help me? Really?" Sammy cried with joy and surprised mixed on his face.

"Yes, I would if there was anything I could do. At the moment though, you hungry?" Serena asked pointing toward the Crown Arcade. "I'm about to go in, I'll buy you something to eat?"

Sammy kind of paled when he looked at the doors to the Crown Arcade.

"Thanks for the offer, but I think I'd do better just to go home to my Aunts." He replied uneasily. "I don't think the manager's son Andrew would like to see me anytime soon."

Serena looked questioningly at him.

"He's one of the ones I stole from." Sammy stated plainly.

"Oh." Serena replied, glancing at the doors. "I'm sure if I vouch for you he'll be nice to you!"

"Maybe some other time, but thanks!" Sammy answered, suddenly turning happy again. "And I'll let you know if you can do anything to help find my mom!"

"I'll keep a look out for anything I could do!" Serena promised happily.

She waved as he ran off down the street.

After putting her locket back in her purse, she entered the Crown Arcade.

She jogged to her seat and determinedly leaped upon it, squealing with laughter as it spun around with the force of her jump.

When it stopped she was dizzy, but still smiling crazily.

"Hey, Serena!" Andrew greeted her with laughter in his voice as he came to stand in front of her.

"Hi Andy!" Serena replied swaying slightly.

"Same food as yesterday?" Andrew asked.

"Yup!" Serena chirped.

Laughing, Andrew went to fix it up.

Neither one of them saw that Darien, who was sitting right next to Serena, had done a double take when Serena walked into the Arcade. Then when she had leaped onto the stool next to his, he had scooted his stool a little ways away from her.

Serena did finally see him when she looked around the Arcade, trying to spot anyone she knew.

Her eyes went wide as she saw Darien.

"You!" The word just shot from her mouth before she could stop it, and she quickly clasped her hand to her mouth.

Darien looked back at her, and she knew he recognized her.

Her heart was pounding rapidly within her chest, as she waited for him to say something first.


	6. Their First Conversation

Tear Pearls

By LadyPrin

Disclaimer Applies.

Thanks to Champion of Justice, -Inuyasha, Jingy5 (No, technically Serena and Sammy don't have the same mom, but Sammy's mom does have something (although very tiny a something) to do with Serena when she was a baby mermaid. Please read the rest of the story to find out what I'm talking about, I'm sure I'm confusing you right now. -), Kana07, Katblue (Okay, thanks for the advice!), Honest Beauty, Markus777 (To answer all of your questions would be to give away a HUGE portion of the story, but yes, I will be explaining them later, and I have said a hint up there while answering Jingy5's question. -), Richforce, Ra, and Lady Tristana Rogue!

Oh, and thanks to HelloGoodbye19!!!

I had this chapter done the day before Thanksgiving, but I became so sick I couldn't see straight so I couldn't post it, sorry for the delay! Also, I hope your Thanksgiving was better than mine!

Chapter Six ~ Their First Conversation

"Yeah, me." Darien confirmed, as Andrew came back with his cup of black coffee and Serena's food. "The same guy you smacked into when you were in tornado mode outside on the sidewalk."

Serena looked taken aback.

"That was you?" She asked with a shocked questioning expression on her face.

Darien had his mug raised halfway to his mouth, but he paused and raised an eyebrow at Serena.

"Yeah." He replied slowly. "I know you recognized me just now, where else would you recognize me from?"

"Well, uh . . ." Serena stuttered, blushing, realizing her mistake too late.

"Oh, lay off the kid Darien." Andrew broke in amiably. "You have been in a couple newspapers, you know."

Serena was thankful for the interruption, and though she didn't have a clue what a newspaper was, she went with it.

"Yeah, I saw you in a newspaper once." Serena quickly muttered, then took a big bite of her hamburger.

Darien didn't look convinced, but decided not to say anything more.

He took a sip of his coffee, and looked Serena over.

Her hairstyle attracted his eyes the most. He thought it was the most ridiculous hairstyle he had ever seen, but at the same time she made the hairstyle look cute.

He quickly turned away from her, and drank some more of his coffee in silence.

Serena kept casting small glances over at him, taking in his appearance as quickly as she could. This was the first time she had seen him up close where he was in light and she could see him clearly. He was just as she remembered from the Tear Pearl, if not more gorgeous. Though he did look like he was sleep deprived a little. Dark shapes were forming under his eyes.

She was done with her food in minutes, just like before, and Darien was just as shocked as Andrew had been.

Andrew laughed at his expression as he refilled his coffee, and then looked between them with a strange glint in his eye.

"So, Serena, what are you planning on doing today?" Andrew asked casually.

Serena was oblivious to anything suspicious.

Even though Darien had been away from here for so long, he still knew Andrew better than most, and knew that something was up with the tone of his voice and the look in his eyes.

He stared up at Andrew, who avoided his eyes and only looked at Serena as Serena replied.

"I don't know, explore I guess!" Serena said with a big smile and spun on her stool.

"You mean you don't live around here?" Andrew asked with casual interest, though he knew that Darien was suspicious of him.

"Yeah, I just came here yesterday!" Serena replied, still spinning.

"Shouldn't you be in school?" Darien asked just as casually as Andrew.

Serena stopped spinning for a moment, and though her whole world continued to spin, she tried to focus on Darien.

"I'm not a fish." She replied, but silently added, 'at the moment I'm not anyway, and even then I'm only half a fish.'

They both stared at her, Andrew with a small smile forming at a corner of his mouth, and Darien with pure shock.

"I didn't mean a school of fish!" He exclaimed. "I meant school as in the place you go to learn stuff!"

"Oh, then aren't I in one already?" Serena asked, starting her spinning again. "I'm learning a lot here!"

Darien and Andrew stared at each other for a moment, and Andrew finally shrugged with a grin on his face.

"Meatball head." Darien muttered as he sipped from his coffee again.

"Darien!" Andrew exclaimed protectively as Serena quit spinning. "Don't insult her like that!"

Darien looked at him for a moment.

"I didn't mean to say it aloud." He amended.

Andrew looked about ready to use his cleaning rag for a murder weapon, so Serena interrupted.

"Andrew, what's a meatball head?" She asked, swaying a little.

They both stared at her.

"Well, a meatball is a ball of meat cooked in spices and served with noodles." Andrew explained. "And it being paired with head, implies that . . . well . . ." 

He hadn't seen Serena angry or sad, but if she was as energetic about those emotions as she was with her happy emotion, he didn't ever want to see her like that, but he still had to answer her question.

"He was calling you an idiot." Andrew finished quickly.

Serena thought for a moment as Andrew held his breath waiting for an outburst of some kind, and Darien just watched from behind his mug.

"So a meatball is a yummy food?" Serena asked, and Andrew nodded. "Okay, that's fine. What's an idiot?"

Darien nearly choked, the mug nearly fell from his hand, and coffee spewed from his mouth over the counter splattering Andrew's apron. Andrew didn't seem to notice, he was staring at Serena's innocent face.

Darien was laughing so hard he was turning red.

Serena looked at Darien and smiled widely. She had made him laugh!

Andrew grinned too, because not only had she made Darien laugh for the first time in weeks, he figured she had probably meant to do it all along.

After three full minutes had passed, Darien finally got his composer together, and started coughing.

Andrew was chuckling and wiping the counter up.

Serena waited a moment and it became clear no one was answering her question.

"Seriously, what's an idiot?" She asked again.

Darien burst out with more laughter, and Andrew stared in shock at her.

"Seriously?" Andrew asked, in a semi pleading tone.

The way to explain what idiot meant, was to say 'dumb person' or dim person'. Andrew didn't want to call Serena either of those, but it was becoming clear to him that she might just be one.

"If it's so hard for you to explain, it's okay, you don't have to!" Serena replied, starting her spinning again. "I'll just ask Rei later."

"You're a dead man, Darien." Andrew whispered so only Darien could hear.

He knew that if Rei found out that Darien had insulted her new best friend, it didn't matter if Darien lived on the 20th floor with steel doors, it wouldn't stop Rei from making her anger known to him.

Darien visibly paled, he knew it too, but hadn't known that Serena knew Rei.

"Just take it as a compliment." Darien murmured, wringing his shirt out from the coffee that had dripped over the counters edge.

"But Andy called it an insult." Serena reminded him gently, though she was willing to forgive a first time insult, especially when it had something to do with food.

"Andy?" Darien mouthed at Andrew with a curious smirk.

Andrew shrugged defiantly, and looked at Serena who stopped spinning again.

"Just take it as a compliment Serena." Andrew practically begged her. "Life will be better that way. For all of us."

Serena saw him glance furtively at Darien, and she got that. She didn't want to make trouble for Darien.

"I guess." She said; her brow creased worriedly, wondering what trouble she might have inadvertently caused.

This is when Andrew went back to the plan that he had come up with earlier.

"Listen, how about if Darien makes it up to you by showing you around?" Andrew quickly asked.

Darien glared at him, with enough force to make Andrew flinch!

Serena beamed at him, with enough happiness to harden his resolve.

"That would be fun!" Serena exclaimed, and then turned to Darien. "Besides, you look like you need to get out in the sun!"

Darien sighed resignedly.

"I probably do." He agreed with one last wring of his shirt.

Serena put the money Rei had given her on the counter as Darien stood up and paid for his semi drunk, semi choked on coffee.

Serena went to slip off the seat, and she slipped off it all right. She slipped right off onto the floor with a "WHOOP!"

Darien had to help her up as her world was still spinning.

Darien glared at Andrew over the counter. Andrew smirked. He knew that Darien knew that Andrew would tell Rei about the 'meatball head' incident if Darien didn't comply with Andrew's wishes.

Serena was laughing as Darien led her out of the Crown Arcade.

She didn't realize that she was holding onto his arm until after her world had stopped spinning.

She loved how it felt holding onto his arm and she didn't want to let go, but she had to when he asked her to, as she was holding his arm so tightly, "she was cutting off his circulation".

Serena didn't know what circulation was, but she didn't want to be cutting it off.

She stood up on her own, let go of him, and happily started bouncing along beside him, chatting about how the day was so bright.

Darien couldn't help but feel his spirit lift up a little as the bright ball of sunshine bobbed along beside him down the sidewalk.

Neither of them noticed the few handfuls of sand that blew past their shoes, and if they did, would they have known that it was a sign of danger coming their way?

More than likely . . .

No.


	7. The Fury of the Sand Youma Part 1

Tear Pearls

By LadyPrin

Disclaimer Applies.

Thanks to Valkyrie Celes (I'm still working on how he'll be handling that event! ^_^), Katblue, Broadwaychick07 (The things she knows about she learned from Proffessor Kenji (remember him from the first chapter?), but most of the stuff he taught her she forgot. She can sometimes call upon what she knows and sometimes she can't. That's her memory for ya'!), Sayain46, Markus777, KagomeFire, Champion of Justice, RichForce, Ra, Lady Tristana Rogue, Kayla, and Neokstar for reviewing!

Sorry it took me so long to write another chapter, I've been busy, plus I haven't had much time on either of the computers. But here's the new chapter, and I hope it's good! I haven't been feeling very uppity lately when it comes to writing. Oh, and I'm fully well now too!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2008 EVERYBODY!

Chapter Seven ~ The Fury of the Sand Youma (Part 1)

Serena and Darien still missed the small sprinklings of sand that skittered past their feet every now and then, though the amount of sand was growing. 

All the store windows they passed by captivated Serena's attention even though she had passed most of them by before. Now she had a chance to look at them close up and she didn't waste it.

She chattered to Darien about the things she saw in them, how cute they looked, how many there were, etc. Half the stuff she saw she didn't know of, but only on two things did she ask Darien for information on.

The first thing was called an IPhone, and Darien could understand how she didn't know about this device.

To spare her the headache it might cause her if he went into a longwinded explanation, like he would with a normal person, he cut it short. She still didn't understand anything except that it played music. She really liked that about it and complimented it through the window.

Then she dragged Darien off to the next window display.

It shocked Darien for being asked about these particular items and set him to blushing and coughing at the same time.

"I don't know what her secret is, but I don't think I want to know. Let's go!"

Darien was the one to drag Serena away this time.

After coming to the end of the street, Serena turned to look at Darien.

"So, where do you usually go around this time?" Serena asked cheerfully, still brimming with energy.

"Usually, I go to school to learn things about being a doctor. Then afterwards I used to go to this small hospital for kids to help out there." Darien replied, grabbing Serena's arm and pulling her out of the street as a motorcycle sped past.

Serena stared at the motorcycle as it rounded a corner, then let out a large sigh.

Then she turned back to him with a smile on her face.

"Do you want to go to the school or the hospital now? I'd love to see them!" Serena asked, wondering what those places where he spent some of his time were like.

"It's too late to go to the school, and besides I stopped going weeks ago." Darien's voice went slightly dead with those last six words.

Serena caught the tone and knew what he might be thinking about.

"Okay, then! We'll go to the kids' hospital instead!" Serena announced cheerfully, grabbing Darien's arm and starting him moving again.

He shook his head a little and looked down at her.

After five minutes or so of walking down the next street, Serena looked up to find Darien staring at her with a hint of a grin on his lips.

"Where is the kids' hospital?" She asked questioningly, and Darien grinned fully.

"I've been waiting for you to ask that." He explained, and then turned her around. "It's halfway between here and my apartment."

Serena walked contentedly along beside him for a while, only slightly noticing that her feet were beginning to ache with pain, and her legs were beginning to tingle.

"There's the children's hospital." Darien pointed to the four-story building just ahead of them.

They walked up to the front gate that surrounded the front yard and walked through it, closing it behind them.

As they walked up onto the porch, Serena stopped and leaned against the wall with one arm.

She moaned a little as she fought to get one shoe off.

When it finally came off, sand slid out as she tilted it over.

Darien stared at the sand in a questioning way.

He knew the only sand around was at the beach, but they were miles away from it.

He now saw the sand that blew past them on the street and into the grass. He looked around alertly for anything unusual, but saw nothing apart from the sand.

Serena put that shoe back on, and took off the other one as Darien looked back at her.

He then noticed the bandages around Serena's feet.

"What happened to your feet?" Darien asked as Serena put that shoe back on and stood up.

"I walked around for almost a full day without shoes." Serena explained with an apologetic smile. "Turns out I mustn't do that on the street and sidewalk."

Darien was tempted to call her meatball head again, but then remembered the pain that Rei would inflict on him if she should ever find out. So he held his tongue, though it was very hard for him to do.

"When was the last time you changed the bandages?" Darien asked as he opened the door for her.

"Rei put them on yesterday, and they haven't been changed since." Serena replied, walking through the door.

Inside the first room were a group of chairs half filled with young children and their parents.

There was a desk further back and a woman rifling through papers and such behind it.

"We'll change the bandages in a moment then. We can't have sand get into the wounds." He advised as he walked up to the desk.

"Ah, Darien Chiba! How nice to see you again!" The red haired woman behind the counter greeted him when she saw him. "You haven't been around here for weeks, we were getting worried about you!"

"Sorry Mrs. Suki. I haven't been feeling very, cheerful, lately, and didn't want to impose my bad mood on the children or staff." Darien apologized.

"Thank you for the consideration, but I hope you're feeling better today." Suki asked with concern.

"Amazingly, I am." Darien replied, glancing once at Serena who was craning her neck around to watch the children in the waiting room.

Suki didn't miss the look, but she mistook it for meaning something else.

"So, who's your new girlfriend?" Suki asked with a wide smile, glancing pointedly at Serena.

Darien's eyes immediately deadened and he didn't say anything for a moment. He clenched his jaws together hard to keep from saying anything rude and hurtful he would regret later.

Serena had heard the question and had looked back up at him just in time to see his eyes go dead.

She knew she must take immediate action to get him back off that train of thought, and though it pained her to have to say it, she forced herself to say the words she knew she must.

"I'm not his girlfriend, Mrs." Serena answered to the confused looking woman. "I'm just a friend. I met him earlier today, and he's showing me around town, because I'm new."

Darien slowly unclenched his jaws, as the expression on Suki's face became understanding.

"Oh, I see. I'm sorry, my mistake." She apologized as the phone beside her rang. "Oh, Darien, if you're here to help with the children again, Dr. Retu is with some in room four."

"Thank you." Darien replied as Suki picked up the phone.

Darien took Serena by the arm and guided her down the hall on their left.

"First we'll go to room eleven on the second floor and get your bandages changed." Darien told Serena as they walked down the hall to the elevator.

That was his train of thought, but it was derailed as Serena heard crying and sniffling as they walked by room four.

She quickly walked around Darien and opened the door just enough to look inside.

There were four beds in this room, two by the left wall, and two by the right. Cushions littered the floor, which was covered in soft wooly blue carpet. The wall across from the door was, from the floor to halfway up just like the other walls, white plaster. The rest of the way up though, was one big long clear glass window. Right now light green curtains were drawn over the wall, and it gave the room the sense of needing to be quiet and grim.

One little boy of around five sat on one of the beds to the left. Another little boy of around eight occupied the other bed beside the five year old.

In the other two beds by the right wall, a ten-year-old boy occupied the bed closest to the door, and a small three-year-old girl occupied the last bed nearest the window wall.

The two boys were each in their beds, and were both crying and sniffling. The ten year old wasn't crying though he looked very close to doing so, but he sat on his bed with his knees pulled up to his chest.

All three were staring at the little three-year-old girl in bed four, who laid on the bed as if she were sleeping as a doctor leaned over her.

Darien's mind was taken off of Serena's feet when he opened the door a bit wider and looked in too.

After glancing at Serena for a moment, Darien walked into the room and over to the doctor.

Serena trailed in behind him.

"Doctor Retu?" Darien asked when he was standing beside the doctor.

"Ah, Darien. Haven't seen you around lately." Doctor Retu replied, straightening up and looking over at him.

The doctor looked worn, tired, and was beginning to show gray in his short black hair.

"What's wrong with Sakura?" Darien asked looking down at the sleeping three-year-old.

Seeing her up close they could tell that her breathing was shallow and uneven.

"I thought she was getting better?" Darien asked worriedly.

"She seemed to be, and we released her soon after you quit coming, but two days later she was back again. We still don't know what ails her, but whatever it is, it's stronger now then ever." The doctor replied, running a tired hand through his hair. "She won't respond when we try to wake her up now, and we're having a respirator moved down here to help her breath, but I fear she might not see the sunrise tomorrow."

The two boys had joined each other on one of their beds and were crying harder now.

Serena walked over to them as Darien continued to converse softly with Doctor Retu.

"Hi there." She greeted them softly, sitting on the foot of the bed. "You're scared aren't you?"

They nodded.

"We like Sakura. She's been here with us for so long we're all friends." The eight year old replied. "But she's real sick now and the doctors keep saying she might die."

"She can't leave us, she can't!" The five year old cried.

Serena looked over at Sakura whose eyes fluttered gently behind their lids.

'_Serenity, I can help you save that child, if that is what you so wish to do.' _A voice suddenly offers to her.

Serena looked around for the woman who spoke, but there was no woman in the room.

'_You must decide now Serenity, for there isn't much time left to her.' _The voice continues.

Serena disregards the fact that the voice has no body, and instead focuses on the child.

Serena has always felt a special connection to children of any species. She always wanted to help out with the baby seahorses, though there were too many to pay attention too.

Once there was this one seahorse that had been born crippled, and Serena tried to help it. Professor Kenji even tried to help, but it died before the next day.

Serena was devastated. She knew from that experience what it felt like to loose a child, even if it wasn't your own child, or from your own species.

'I want to help!' She thought forcefully.

'_Then it's time to learn what else Tear Pearls are useful for.' _The voice replied. _'Take a Tear Pearl from each of the three children here.'_

Serena looked back at the two boys in front of her, and smiled to them.

She reached up to the face of the five-year-old and gently wiped his cheek with one finger.

A pure white Tear Pearl appeared on the tip of that finger.

The boys' faces lit up with awe and they stared at it.

Serena quickly dropped that Tear Pearl into her other hand and reached up to wipe the eight-year-olds cheek.

After she made that Tear Pearl and had put it with the other one, she smiled at the boys.

"These will help Sakura." She assured them, though she didn't quite yet know how herself.

They nodded, still looking stunned, and Serena stood up from that bed and moved over to the ten-year-old.

The ten-year-old had watched her make Tear Pearls from the other boys and now watched her wide eyed as she came to sit on his bed.

"Will those things you just made, really help Sakura?" He asked in a low wondering tone.

Serena nodded.

"Will you trust a Sailor Scout?" She asked the boy in a whisper only he could hear.

He blinked and a single tear escaped his eyes.

Serena was quick, but gentle, to catch it.

The boy smiled a half smile, and Serena smiled back.

'_What you're about to do must remain a secret for now.' _The voice warned.

"I must ask one more thing from you. Can you distract the Doctor and my friend Darien?" Serena asked the boy.

The boy glanced over at the two men who were still standing over Sakura, talking softly, and glancing every now and then at the kids.

The boy nodded, and a small mischievous grin tugged on the corners of his mouth.

He suddenly doubled over, clutching his stomach and making horrible retching sounds.

Serena was startled for a moment at such a change in him, but it worked.

Darien and the Doctor immediately rushed over, and Serena stood back to let them by the bed.

As they stood over the boy, asking him many questions and trying to figure out what was wrong with him, Serena sat down on the edge of Sakura's bed with her back to them.

The other two boys caught on to what the ten-year-old was doing and started acting sick themselves.

Serena quickly pulled Sakura up to a sitting position, letting Sakura's head lay against Serena's chest.

She held up the three Tear Pearls of the children.

'_Put them in the child's mouth.' _The voice instructed.

Serena quickly and gently did so, one at a time.

She could see the little girl slowly swallowing them by the motion of her throat muscles.

'_The caring and love those other children hold for their friend, and which you have encased in those Tear Pearls, will help give her the strength to fight against whatever sickness has a hold on her.' _The voice explained. _'She will not be well immediately, but she will awaken, and be able to breath better. She will not die today, but continue to get stronger as time passes.' _

Serena smiled as she watched Sakura start to breath better.

Then abruptly Sakura was coughing and sputtering, and Serena was afraid she had done something wrong.

Then with one last huge cough, Sakura spit out whatever was making her breathing so hard, and looked up at Serena with a wide smile.

Serena smiled again as Darien and the doctor rushed over to them.

Serena then noticed that what Sakura had spit out, was sand.


	8. The Fury of the Sand Youma Part 2

Tear Pearls

By LadyPrin

Disclaimer Applies.

You're getting two chapters today! The Fury of the Sand Youma was turning out to be such a large chapter I divided it up into two chapters. Hope it makes up for my being so late on posting.

Chapter Eight ~ The Fury of the Sand Youma (Part 2)

Darien gently took Sakura from Serena's arms to look at her closer, and the doctor was checking her breathing and eyes.

Serena quickly stood up and looked at the other children.

They watched her intently, two of them hanging upside down halfway off their beds.

Serena smiled and winked at them and they relaxed.

Then they were up off their beds and running over to encircle the doctor, Darien and Sakura who was now wide awake and smiling at everyone.

Serena went to stand by the window and brushed herself off.

'_I don't think I was expecting sand to come out of the child's mouth.' _The voice admitted in a stunned tone. _'That was not normal! And she seems fully healed already. With a normal sickness that would not happen, she'd need a couple weeks at least to heal fully." _

Serena didn't really care. Sakura was fine and would continue to be fine. Darien, the doctor, and the children were all smiling with happiness. 

Serena was content.

One of the curtains was made to flutter from the air being blown from a vent in the floor. It fluttered against Serena's hand and she had an idea.

Meanwhile, Darien and the doctor were voicing their amazement at Sakura's miraculous recovery.

It was the five-year-old who let it slip.

"It was that angel! She healed Sakura!" He cried joyously.

The other two boys looked at him warningly, and the boy looked sheepish at having let out the secret.

"I didn't know it was supposed to be a secret." He said in his defense.

Darien and the doctor looked at each other.

"Well." Doctor Retu said with a large smile, looking at least five years younger. "An angel must have done this, it's too miraculous for any doctor to have been able to do!"

He took Sakura into his arms.

"I'll take her upstairs, we'll check her out fully up there!" He explained, as Sakura laughed her happiness. "But it looks like she'll be able to go home very soon!"

The kids hurrahed as the doctor started for the door.

Darien quickly knelt by the five-year-old.

"Where's the angel who helped Sakura? I'd like to thank it." Darien said in a low whisper.

"Her." The five-year-old replied, pointing toward Serena.

Darien looked over at Serena who stood by the windows.

'Serena? How could she have--?' He wondered as he watched her pull open the curtains to let light in.

All thoughts of that however were pushed from his mind when he saw what was standing just outside the window.

"Uh, Darien? That's not supposed to be there huh?" Serena asked turning halfway around to look at him with a questioning look.

Darien immediately went into hero mode.

"RETU, get the children out!" He screamed to the doctor who was standing shocked by the door, staring at the window.

He was jolted from his trance by Darien's voice, and quickly pulled the children out the room.

Darien ran toward Serena, to try and get her away from the glass.

Outside the window on the lawn was a large youma, made purely of sand.

It opened a hollow hole where the mouth would be and screamed in fury as it flew at the window.

"GET DOWN!" Darien screamed at Serena, knowing he probably wouldn't get to her in time.

Serena heeded his command, and dropped to her hands and knees on the floor just as the youma hit the window.

It exploded into the room with shards of glass being thrown like tiny sharp daggers.

Darien lunged to the floor just behind the nearest bed.

The bed blocked most of the glass, and he only got scraped a few times, but sand starting filling the room at a rapid rate.

"THE CHILD IS MINE!" It roared as it rushed toward the door.

Darien quickly pulled a rose from his pocket and threw it at the door with enough force to push it closed.

The youma roared in fury, and though it could've easily have gone under the door through the crack, it was too angry to notice. It hit the door and rebounded back, intent on smothering Darien.

Darien leaped off the floor and onto the bed.

His black boots protected his feet from the shards of glass embedded in the mattress and sheets, as he looked for Serena.

There was more sand in the room than he had thought the youma was made up of, and it swirled around like a whirlpool of water in the middle of the ocean, multicolored cushions and white head pillows poking out here and there.

Darien couldn't see Serena, but he didn't have very long to look for her.

The rebounding sand from the door rammed into his back and threw him from the bed.

He hit the swirling sand with enough force to drive the breath out of him, and when he tried to pull another breath in, he was already under the sand.

He choked as sand was pulled into his lungs rather than air. He tried to swim his way to the top, but was being thrown about so much he could no longer tell where the ceiling or the floor was. He opened his eyes once, and regretted it. Sand stung his eyes and he couldn't rub them or else he'd just rub more sand into them.

Just when he thought he would choke on the sand, something covered his face, blocking the sand from reaching him.

He opened his eyes once more, against his better judgment, but no more sand hit him.

Through stinging watering eyes he could make out a thin layer of see-through shimmering silver material that blocked the sand. It brushed his face for a moment and it felt soft, and cool, but dry and put him in mind of watery moonlight.

The material created like a bubble around him, and after he spit out the sand, he quickly took a deep breath.

Then Serena's tail fin was gone from in front of his face and she quickly took hold from behind him and pushed him up through the raging sand toward air.

She had transformed into her mermaid self, but had to shut off her gills or else she'd be breathing in sand. She used her tail like she would in water, but the grains of sand scratched her, and got embedded underneath her scales and hurt.

She flipped determinedly on, while Darien closed his eyes to the sand and wondered whose arms he felt around him.

For some reason he was calmed and assured by them, though logic told him to panic.

Meanwhile, above the sand, the others had arrived.

"You mean I got pulled from my classes for this?" Mars asked in aggravation as she and the others looked through the broken window at the big mess of sand swirling inside the room.

"I'd been wanting to go to the beach recently, looks like the beach came to us!" Venus cried happily.

"You know it's a youma and we have to destroy it, right?" Jupiter asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, having sand swirl around like that, I wouldn't want to walk on it, and it wouldn't be good for tanning oneself on." Venus did admit.

"Mercury, do you have it's weakness yet?" Mars asked Mercury impatiently.

"Yes, throw fireballs at it and it will crystallize. Then Jupiter, hit it with a lightning bolt and that should shatter it!" Mercury replied hurriedly, but calmly, looking through her vizor at the sand.

"Right!" Mars agreed.

She pulled herself into a crouching position on the windowsill, and readied a fireball.

"Mars, Fire, IG--!"

"WAIT!" Mercury cried just before Mars let loose.

All three heads turned to look at her as she continued.

"There's at least two people in the sand! We must get them out before we destroy the youma or they'll die too!"

Mars had the best view of the room and so it was her who spotted Darien's head pop up on the far side of the room.

"Darien!" Mars cried out to him, hoping he'd still be awake to hear her.

He was awake, but had to spit sand out of his mouth twice before he could answer back.

"Mars!" He cried as he tried swimming toward the window.

He nearly went under again, but Serena didn't let him.

Serena only popped up behind Darien once to catch a breath, and Mars didn't see her before she went under again. She quickly swam her way to the window, pushing Darien in front of her.

It was hard but they made it to just under the windowsill.

Serena pushed Darien up from underneath and Mars grabbed his hand.

The others helped pull him through the window where he flopped down on the grass outside, shaking sand out of his hair and trying to catch his breath.

"Serena's in there!" He panted, not knowing or caring if the Sailor Scouts knew Serena. He just wanted them to know they had another to save.

"Serena? In there?" Mars cried as she jumped onto the windowsill again.

Just as Serena was about to leap through the window, the sand in front of her became a tidal wave and pushed her back against the door, and nearly making Mars fall backward out the window.

Mars did see her before she fell back into the sand.

"Serena! Swim!" Mars cried to her, not caring if the others saw she was a mermaid, just wanting her friend to survive.

Serena was a little dizzy from having been thrown against the wood door, but she heard Mars and did her best to swim toward her voice as Mars continued to push her on.

The sand behind her became a tidal wave again and rushed at her. She swam faster and faster until she was just a leap from the window.

She pushed herself out of the sand with her fin, while she started changing it back to legs. This transformation was faster than normal, probably due to her need to survive, so by the time she leaped through the window her legs were mostly back.

Mars fired five consecutive fireballs at the oncoming sand tidal wave, as Serena hit the ground and rolled.

The last few scales on her feet disappeared and Serena saw Jupiter throwing a lightning bolt through the window just before the darkness overcame her.

She closed her eyes and drifted away.

Through all the commotion that followed, Mercury would remain silent about the image she had captured on her visor when she had looked through the sand.

She had seen two people in the sand, but only one was human.

Yes, she would remain silent about it, for now.


	9. A Night at the Pond

Tear Pearls

By LadyPrin

Disclaimer Applies.

Thanks to Sayain46, Gallantmon of the Hazard (Thanks for reading and I hope it stays interesting to you! Does AU stand for 'another usual'?), -inuyasha, Markus777 (Oh, Ami's about to let someone know she knows something! ^-^ She just couldn't keep it to herself!), SerenityDeath, Katblue (Her tail will be alright, rest assured. A little soothing water and a gentle scrub down can do wonders. ^-^), Valkyrie Celes (Rei so agrees!), Richforce, Champion of Justice, Lady Tristana Rogue, Kari, and Jingy5!

Get ready! It's a LONG one!

Chapter Nine ~ A Night at the Pond ~ (Questions will be answered! Though maybe not all of them . . . ^-^)

When Serena's mind swam out of the darkness, she was aware of the voices though her eyes never opened.

"Rei, I know you know something!" Ami's voice whispered furiously, somewhere off to Serena's side.

"Alright! Serena's a mermaid okay!" Rei responds just as furiously. "I found her out back by the pond, and I let her stay here! So what? What harm can it do?"

"I'm not talking about her being a mermaid!" Ami answers. "I already knew she was a mermaid from earlier today when my computer scanned her body signal through the sand! That's not it!"

"Aren't you even the littlest shocked that mermaids exist?" Rei asked in a small wondering tone. "I mean, I was really shocked when I knew, and I know you know almost everything, but I didn't think you knew this!"

"Yes, I was extremely in shock when I found out, but don't try to change the subject!!!" Ami sighed in exasperation.

"Then what are you talking about Ami?" Rei asked in a soft questioning tone.

"I'm talking about her hand." Ami replied in a now calm voice. "The bandaged one. It's infected badly, and not by any normal bacteria or infection."

"I didn't know it was infected!" Rei exclaimed. "I have been meaning to look at it, but I hadn't gotten the chance yet."

"What did she tell you happened to it?" Ami asked.

"She said she'd cut it on my scissors." Rei explained. "Trying to cut the thread to make into a bracelet. She'd already had it bandaged up by the time I came home."

"Which was yesterday?" Ami asked.

"Yes, after the fight with the youma in the park and chasing after Sailor Moon." Rei replied.

"Hmmm." Ami muttered softly.

"Hmmm what Ami?" Rei asked, getting impatient again.

Then there was ten good seconds of silence.

"You're thinking that she's . . ." Rei started to say.

Silence.

"But how . . .?" Rei asked, stopping again in mid-sentence.

Silence.

"Man, talk about multiple personality disorder!!!" Rei exclaimed loudly.

Ami shushed her.

"Okay, so the girl is part mermaid, part human, and a magical Sailor Scout. I can handle this." Rei stated in a calm quiet slow voice.

"Listen, I personally have nothing against Sailor Moon." Ami informed Rei. "She helped us fight, she healed Sailor Jupiter, and she didn't try to kill us. I accept her fully, but she needs to accept us too. We need to know why she ran off like she did, and what she knows, if anything, about the mission. She might be able to help us."

"First, before we interrogate her, we need to heal that hand of hers." Rei stated calmly. "It seems that though she can heal others she can't heal herself. Her feet wouldn't still be healing, and her hand wouldn't be wounded if she could."

"Right, first thing's first!" Ami agreed.

"_Listen, dear, I don't think you want to be awake while they take care of your hand." _The voice from earlier spoke. _"Mercurian healing medicine works wonders; but isn't entirely painless. Go back to sleep. For now."_

~*~

When Serena opened her eyes the first time, she saw Rei's worried face staring at her.

"Are you okay now?" She asked worriedly, as Serena sat up.

Serena was about to nod when she noticed the urgent feeling again.

"I will be once I wash my fin." Serena replied.

"I'll help you to the pond, but once there, Serena, you'll need to talk to my friend and I." Rei informed her softly, as she helped Serena stand up.

"I know." Serena replied, just as softly.

~*~

It was night time now, as Rei helped Serena walk out onto the grass in the back yard.

As they walked to the pond Serena felt the cool air hit her skin, and the slight breeze that blew at them and rustled the trees around them.

Ami was waiting for them at the pond.

She was sitting at its edge, her bare feet submerged beneath the dark water, and her mini-computer in her hand.

She looked up at them as they neared, but didn't say anything until after Serena had sat down.

"Hello Serena." Ami greeted her kindly.

"Hello Ami." Serena greeted back, with a smile.

Then she removed the sandals that Rei had put on her feet before she walked over the grass.

Ami watched in fascination as Serena's feet merged into a tail again.

Immediately when the tail finished forming, Serena cried out in pain, and pushed her whole tail into the pond.

She started scrubbing and scratching furiously at her scales.

"What's wrong Serena?" Rei asked worriedly, leaning down to look at her.

"There's sand and glass stuck under my scales! They hurt!" Serena replied, never stopping in her scratching and scrubbing.

"Just a minute!" Rei cried, as she turned and ran back into the house.

When she came back out she handed Serena a thick sponge.

"Use this to scrub yours scales." She instructed, and Serena thanked her and started scrubbing again, but this time more effectively.

Rei then went around lighting the hanging paper lanterns that were hung around the yard on thick cords.

They cast a warm gold glow on everything around them, and the light calmed Serena.

As Serena started slowing her pace and scrubbing more calmly, Rei came and sat down on Serena's other side.

"Before you start asking me questions, can I ask one first?" Serena asked.

"Sure." Rei replied, removing her own shoes and sticking her feet in the water.

"Is Darien okay?" Serena asked, staring at her scales that glistened in the gold light cast from the lanterns.

"He's fine." Ami replied reassuringly. "He was worried about you, but Rei assured him that she'd take good care of you. After Rei took you back here, Darien stayed at the hospital to help clean up the mess and make sure everyone was okay. He's fine, and I'm sure you'll see him again soon."

Serena smiled, and started scrubbing more energetically again.

"So, what do you want to know?" Serena asked them. "I woke up earlier and heard you two talking. I want to thank you for healing my hand, it doesn't hurt anymore."

In fact, there was only a small scar on her hand, and no other sign of a wound.

"You're welcome. We healed your feet too." Ami explained. "First of all, when did you become a Sailor Scout?"

"Sailor Scout." Serena repeated slowly. "Oh, you mean Sailor Moon? Yesterday evening. I saw Rei confront the youma in the front yard, and I saw her transform. Her attack didn't do any good, and I heard her contact you and the others and say that you'd be at the park. I wanted to help so badly that this broach appeared out of my chest, and the words just came to me. I said them and transformed."

"You mean you didn't know you could become Sailor Moon before then?" Ami asked.

"Hadn't a clue." Serena responded.

"Why'd you run from us after the fight?" Rei asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't really know exactly." Serena replied thoughtfully. "I remember that I didn't want to be the center of attention at that time, my hand hurt, and when you started chasing me I got scared. I guess you can say my instincts took over."

"Well, there's nothing to be scared of." Rei assured her firmly. "None of us will hurt you, or give you away to anyone. Lita would like to thank you for healing her leg, though she did have a hard time telling Andrew how it was suddenly gone without a scar, but she kind of enjoyed that."

They giggled.

"Wait a minute . . . How did you know I was calling Ami, Lita, and Mina?" Rei asked, her brows furrowing in confusion.

"I had figured out who you were. You're voices were familiar, and you even looked familiar." Serena replied.

"It's kind of funny, really." Rei stated, lying back on the grass with her arms over her head. "You can recognize us by our voices and looks, when everybody else is dumb to it."

"They're not dumb Rei." Ami scolded her, but not too strongly. "Our tiara's emit an illusion charm, that I personally put on them. No one can see our faces because they're obscured; it's like looking through thick mist. As to our voices, not everyone has the ability to identify voice patterns."

"So that's why." Rei replied. 

"Rei, I've told you this before!" Ami exclaimed.

"You did?" Rei asked surprised. "Then I must have forgotten."

Ami shook her head at Rei and then looked back at Serena.

"What do you know of our mission?" Ami asked.

"That's a bit blunt." Rei stated, looking over at Ami.

Ami shrugged, but still stared at Serena.

"What mission?" Serena asked, looking up and over her shoulder at Rei.

"We're Sailor Scouts for a reason." Rei explained. "We fight for a reason. Actually we fight for more than one reason, but the main reason is this. Years ago, we used to protect this Queen. We were also going to protect her daughter when she was born, but the Queen died, and the Princess for now is lost. We Sailor Soldiers have the mission of finding her, quickly, because there's an evil enemy after her too. Our one major big problem is that we haven't any clue as to who the Princess is, or where she might be."

"When you appeared as your Sailor Moon self, we were kind of hoping you knew something about her that we didn't." Ami continued.

"I don't know about any . . . Well, there is the Water Queen, AquaReGina, but she's still alive." Serena replied thoughtfully. "And she's a mermaid Queen, so I don't think she's the one you're talking about. I know she had five sons, but no daughters. So I don't think I know anything about a Princess, or your mission." 

"We kind of thought that, but had to make sure." Ami stated with a small disappointed smile. "Well, can we count on you fighting with us? It seems the enemy is getting stronger and more resistant to our attacks. You have fresh new ones, and that helps a lot."

"Also, you can heal directly which also helps a lot!" Rei added quickly.

Serena smiled widely.

"I never was much one for fighting, but it seems with that part of myself I have the strength and courage to fight. So, sure! I'll help when I can!" She replied.

"That's right! You have a time limit!" Rei exclaimed suddenly remembering their conversation the other day. "Three weeks right?"

"Yes, two days of which are almost gone." Serena confirmed.

"But you can extend your time limit though, right?" Rei asked. 

"Yes, if I do it on time." Serena confirmed.

"You said you were looking for someone." Rei continued, remembering the question she hadn't gotten to ask that time. "Do you know who you're looking for?"

"Oh, yes! I found him too!" Serena replied happily, scrubbing her scales more vigorously, though mostly because it felt good rather than there was more glass and sand.

"Ah! So it was a 'he'!" Rei exclaimed sitting up quickly.

Ami started blushing slightly when she figured out where this conversation was going.

She wasn't alone Serena was blushing too.

"So, you fell in love with a human man and came looking for him right?" Rei asked enthusiastically. "Just like in those old stories?"

"Just like the legends of mermaids of old, and a couple mermen. Yes." Serena confirmed.

"Is it one of those, you have to win him over and he doesn't know who you are type stories, or he already knows you're a mermaid and loves you too type?" Rei asked with a big smile.

"The first one!" Serena replied.

"So, what's him naaame???" Rei asked grinning.

Ami was even staring interestedly at Serena.

"Um, well . . ." Serena started.

She wasn't sure how to tell Rei as; after all, she had been Darien's girlfriend at one time.

"You do know his name right?" Rei asked questioningly.

"Yes, I know his name!" Serena replied. "I've even talked to him!"

She slumped down for a minute while she added:

"The first time I scolded him."

She sat up when she finished:

"And I made him laugh the second time!"

Rei burst out laughing. 

"So, why won't you tell us his name?" Rei asked again, teasingly.

"Um . . ." Serena muttered.

"It's Darien!" Ami blurted out.

Both heads turned to her.

"Darien? Seriously?" Rei asked. "How do you know?" 

Ami blushed.

"Well." It was Ami's turn to be hesitant to answer. "It's only logical! She was with Darien today at the kid's hospital. Don't you think that if it weren't him, she'd have gone looking for the right one? Also, she's hesitant to tell you. Might it be possible you told her that you used to be his girlfriend?"

"Uh." Rei recalled that she had said that to her. "I see your point."

Then Rei looked at Serena.

"Is it really Darien?" She asked, with a questioning expression.

Serena nodded, with a small smile.

"YAHOO!!!" Rei exclaimed loudly.

Serena and Ami jumped.

"MY MERMAID FRIEND IS IN LOVE WITH MY EX-BOYFRIEND! NOW THAT'S SOMETHING I CAN GET BEHIND!!!" She yelled happily.

Serena and Ami started laughing again and Rei joined them.

"So, when did you first see him?" Rei asked, wanting full details.

Serena explained to them about how she could turn tears into pearls by just touching them, then she explained how she had touched the only tear of his to fall into the ocean. Then she explained what she saw in that tear. She explained how she watched him for a long time and had yearned so much to actually talk to him at least! She explained how she had gone to Professor Kenji and sought his help to turn human.

At her first mentioning of his name, Ami started.

"Professor Kenji?" She asked.

Serena nodded in confirmation.

"Do you know him Ami?" Rei asked in shock.

"I don't know if he's the same one, but I once went to this college in another part of Japan, because they had so many books that I couldn't find anywhere else. I asked a question about the sea to one of the teachers, and they started talking about a Professor Kenji who used to teach there. The subject he taught was about sea creatures and sea plants. Anything about the sea in general, if you had a question he had the answer. But he only taught there for less than seven weeks. He mysteriously disappeared. Nobody has seen or heard from him since, and I tried to find him after I became Sailor Mercury, using my computer and stuff, but I came up empty. Thinking about it I never thought to look in the ocean. Then again, I hadn't known merpeople existed then."

"I don't know if he ever came on land, but it's possible I suppose." Serena stated thoughtfully. "That would explain how he knows so much about humans! He taught me to read, and he taught me the names of a lot of things, and I know how to write a little too! That's why a lot of merpeople call him Teacher, but he likes being called Professor."

"The title could remind him of his happy human days." Ami giggled.

Rei and Serena giggled with her.

"Please, continue Serena." Ami encouraged.

Serena continued with how Kenji had come up with a potion for becoming human, but how it was better than the old potions were. She told them of the backwards thing with water and she told them about being able to expand her time limit with taking another potion or how to make it permanent with a kiss. She then told them of how she took the potion and came to land, and then how she'd found her way to Rei's.

She then told them of when she had scolded Darien, that time she had jumped down from the his apartment roof onto his balcony.

Rei laughed so hard at that.

"It's about time someone told him off, I'm just sorry it wasn't me! I would've done it if he'd answered the phone or the door. It never occurred to me to use the window." Rei stated laughingly.

"Does he know you're Sailor Mars?" Serena asked.

"No. As far as we know, he doesn't know any of us are Sailor Scouts." Ami answered. "And just for information's sake, we don't know who Tuxedo Mask is either. He helps us fight and has saved us many times, so we accept him. We haven't been able to talk with him much cause he leaves before we can. Please continue."

Serena then went on to tell them of her second meeting with Darien, well her third if she counted running into him earlier. She decided not to tell Rei and Ami about him calling her a 'Meatball Head' though she was still burning to know what an 'idiot' was. Instead, she was vague about the details, and just stated that something she had said had made him laugh so hard his drink was spilt all over Andrew.

Rei and Ami howled at that.

When they're howls were down to giggles, Serena quickly went on to tell them of her day with Darien. She told of the places they had explored, and finally their trip to the kid's hospital where the youma had attacked.

When her story had wound down, Rei and Ami both were laying on their backs beside Serena, with their bare feet still submerged in the pond.

Serena pulled herself a bit out of the water and changed her tail back into legs. Then she too laid down on her back with her feet submerged too.

"Well, I will certainly help in anyway I can to get you and Darien together!" Rei proclaimed. "You're so much better for him than Beryl was, and you brought him out of his depression enough to laugh at least."

"Yes! We'll all help with that, though we will have to watch out for Mina. She gets carried away sometimes playing Cupid. She's the Sailor Scout of Love, we have to expect that of her." Ami explained.

"Thank you!" Serena said with much feeling. "Thank you very much!"

"You're welcome Serena!" Rei replied with a yawn.

Her yawn caused Ami and Serena to yawn as well.

They stayed sleepily silent for a few minutes.

Then Serena's curiosity got the better of her.

She turned to Ami.

"Ami, you know a lot of things right?" Serena asked to start with.

"Yes, I have an IQ of over 300. So I'm somewhat of a genius." Ami replied, and then realized that there was slim chance of Serena knowing what an IQ was.

"Uh." Serena muttered.

"I'm really really smart." Ami explained.

"Oh! Great! Maybe you can tell me what an idiot is?" Serena asked politely.

Rei's head jerked up as Ami started explaining automatically.

"Idiot – noun – foolish, stupid, dim, dumb, brainless person. Why?"

Before Serena could reply, Rei cut in.

"Did someone call you an idiot Serena?" She cried indignantly.

"Well, not using that word, exactly." Serena replied, wondering how to get herself out of this conversation without having to reveal Darien's name.

She realized she'd probably said too much already.

"Oh my, Serena!" Ami exclaimed.

"Whatever they said, you clearly know they meant to call you an idiot. I want to know who!" Rei cried.

"I promised I wouldn't tell!" Serena shook her head firmly.

"Sere—!" Rei started again.

"Rei let her be. She doesn't seem upset, so let her be!" Ami said firmly.

Serena was thankful that they quit inquiring about the name, but she didn't see Ami and Rei communicating wordlessly by their communicators.

Their Text's:

Ami: "You should not push her. She seems to take promises very seriously."

Rei: "Fine, I won't push her, but I am going to keep an eye and ear out for whoever said it! I won't let them get away with it!"

Ami's thought on Rei's statement: 'Oh boy! Someone's going to die.'


	10. Desert Roses

Tear Pearls

By LadyPrin

Disclaimer applies.

To Bakagirl123, MewMewInuSailorHeart, Ra, Kariangelgrl (You might just have to wait a little bit longer to see if Rei kills or just hurts Andrew and/or Darien. I don't quite know which she'll do myself, she hasn't told me yet. ^-^ ), Miakoday, Katblue, Richforce, Valkyrie Celes, -inuyasha, Lady Tristana Rogue, Sayain46, and Gallantmon of the Hazard (Oh, yes, there is more to Kenji than our little mermaid knows. It's been too long since I've last seen any episodes of Sailor Moon, so Rei's personality and everyone elses may be a bit off. But also know that I don't much care for some of the stories I've seen with Rei being portrayed as selfish, mean, and just plain evil. So I might of upped her on the goodness of her personality a bit. Hope it's okay!), thank you all!

If this chaptor isn't good at all, I'm sorry. I haven't written anything in months and I had to just throw myself back into writing this and get back in the groove. Also, I had lost my train of thought on where the storyline was going and all the plots (I get carried away with that sometimes), so I had to try to gather my ideas back together since I hadn't written them down. I still don't think I got them all, but I hope I got most of them. I hope the story stays interesting to you and that you will stay with it.

Chapter Ten ~ Desert Roses

"So, whatcha' doing Lita?" Serena asked, as she peered over the counter to get a better look at Lita's hands.

This morning Rei had to stay at the temple to help her Grandpa out, so Ami who had slept over had taken Serena to see Lita.

Lita worked part time at a flower shop in town, and for the last two hours Serena had been watching her do her assigned jobs: arranging flowers, cleaning up fallen petals and stems, etc.

"Well, right now, I am arranging a bouquet for a customer who will be here soon." Lita explained as she gently cut the excess stem off a flower so it would fit in the vase.

"And what will the customer do with them?" Serena asked curiously.

"Either set them on a table or counter or something so they'll look pretty, or give them to someone special." Lita replied.

"Look pretty, someone special." Serena repeated under her breath, while thinking.

Then an idea struck her.

"Can I give flower's to Darien? Do you think he'd like them?" She asked enthusiastically.

Lita paused and looked at her while she thought on that idea.

"Yeah, I think he might. He's used this store to buy flowers for Rei and Beryl when he dated them, but I don't know what kind of flower's he himself likes." Lita replied slowly.

"Roses." Ami interjected softly.

She had been using her time at the store to read up on flowers and their meanings from a flower dictionary that the manager of the store had chained to the counter.

"Rei once told me his favorite flower was the rose." Ami explained, readjusting her reading glasses. "We could buy a whole pot of them and if he's not at home you can leave it for him on his balcony, with a note so he knows it's from you."

"OH!" Lita exclaimed excitedly. "I think this is one of those rare times when anyone has caught Ami missing something totally obvious!"

Serena and Ami looked at her with curiosity, and confusion.

"If he's to know it's from her, it'd best be left by his door. Otherwise how will you explain her leaving it on the balcony, when his balcony is so high up?" Lita explained.

"Oh, right." Was all Ami could say as she blushed.

She didn't have any experience with giving flowers to someone, and having the abilities of a Sailor Scout made some things easier for them to do, but harder to explain to others. She wouldn't admit it so easily, but even she sometimes forgot about that.

"Well, if he's not there . . . we'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Ami assured them.

"Go pick out what roses you'd like Serena and give Ami some time to reboot her brain." Lita instructed with a smile.

Serena bounded happily off to the rose section of the store, having them pointed out to her earlier by Ami when they'd first come in.

When she'd found the perfect pot of roses, which was really hard to do because they all were so beautiful to her, Ami paid for them and they were soon walking toward Darien's part of town.

The streets started getting crowded in one area they came to, and Ami suggested they transform and get to Darien's apartment by way of jumping buildings.

After they had transformed and had jumped onto the first building, it became apparent that they'd have to be more careful then usual.

Sand littered the tops of the buildings, and made walking across them a sluggish way to travel.

Sailor Mercury nearly suggested that they should go back to the street, but Sailor Moon was almost always a few feet ahead of her working her way energetically and diligently through the sand.

Sailor Mercury figured that the sand must be more remains of the sand youma of yesterday, like the dust trail left behind by a comet.

Sooner than Mercury expected they reached the top of Darien's building, though they almost missed realizing it because the sand made all the building rooftops look alike.

As Mercury was clearing a square by the door that led down into the building so that it would open easier (it swung out onto the roof), Moon stared around at all the sand and thought hard.

"Am- Mercury!" Moon called out, getting Mercury's attention. "I have an idea! How about we plant a lot of roses up here! He can have his own little rose garden!!!"

Mercury stood thoughtfully for a moment.

"I don't know if that'll work. Plants like roses normally grow from soil, dirt, not sand. Cactuses grow out of sand." Mercury explained. "Us being Sailor Scouts might actually enable us to make such a thing happen though . . ."

After thinking for a few more minutes, Mercury had Serena set the pot of roses down on the sand, and then follow her off the roof.

"We'll go get Jupiter." Mercury explained. "She should be getting off of work by now. Aside from harnessing thunder and lightening, she's the one that is great with plants. Her earrings are even roses. Most people don't even realize they're real roses. If anyone can make roses grow in sand, Jupiter can!"

After a moment of jumping buildings in silence, Mercury added with a small smile:

"With a little of my help of course."

~*~

"So, you want to make a huge rose garden for Darien, up here?" Jupiter asked as she surveyed the sand beneath her, staring at the sand with a doubtful expression.

"Yes! I want to give him all the roses I can! One little pot just doesn't seem like enough!" Moon replied enthusiastically.

"I can see how you might think that." Jupiter smiled at her. "Well, first we plant the roses that you brought, and I'll take it from there."

Moon nodded and walked with the flower pot held securely in her arms over to a corner of the roof.

She kneeled down on her knees, and started digging a hole in the sand with one of her gloved hands. When the hole was big enough, she gently took the roses from the pot and laid them in the hole.

Once she covered the base with sand she went and stood by Mercury and let Jupiter walk up to the roses.

Jupiter started stroking the petals and patting the sand that covered the base, softly muttering words that couldn't be heard by Mercury or Moon.

When she stepped back the roses had grown twice their size, and multiplied by three.

They all smiled at the plant, but the smiles disappeared as the plant started to rapidly wilt.

Mercury stepped up then and sprayed a little stream of water onto them.

For a moment it looked happy, then it started wilting again.

"I don't get it." Jupiter muttered, as Mercury glanced at her.

Moon then rushed forward to look closely at the plant. She didn't understand why it was wilting, but she wasn't ready to give up.

She pulled off one of her gloves and layed it on the ground, then went to hold one of the flowers by its stem.

"Ow!" She cried when she felt the thorns dig into her palm.

She pulled her hand back and saw a little blood swelling up in the pinpricks left by the thorns.

"Look!" Mercury cried.

Jupiter and Moon looked back at the roses.

They were growing, multiplying and blooming brighter!

Mercury stared at it through her visor for a few minutes.

"Okay, for some reason there's something in your blood Moon that the roses like, it helps them to live." Mercury quickly explained. "All we need to do right now is help to guide them as they spread and replant themselves. Help make them look more like a garden and less like a blob of red."

"Right!" Jupiter and Moon replied together.

For the next three hours they worked to gently guide the roses to the right spots. It was around two in the afternoon when they were finally done. Though they were tired, and had a few scrapes along their arms and legs from the thorns, they were happy with their work. Jupiter had enough energy to suggest they make a pond.

"How?" Moon asked.

"Well, I know a friend who has a kiddy pool that they don't want anymore." Jupiter started explaining. "If she still has it and will give it to me, we could put it here. Then, we could collect a few rocks and place them around the edges, and Mercury could fill it up with water."

"That sounds good!" Mercury replied thoughtfully.

At the mention of water Moon realized that that tingle she was feeling, wasn't because she was tired.

Mercury caught her expression and interperted it correctly.

"Considering all these roses are blocking off the view of all the other building roofs, I think it's safe for you to transform to your mermaid self. I'll water you down." Mercury offered.

"Thank you." Moon replied with a grateful expression as she detransformed from being Moon, and started to transform into her mermaid self.

~*~

It took them another hour to make the pond, but they thought it was well worth it.

"I hope no youma's attack today, I'm too tired to fight." Lita groaned as they walked slowly together toward the Crown Arcade.

"As Mina would say, it was all in the name of love." Ami responded though her expression screamed 'tired' too.

"I think Mina will approve once we tell her about it, but she'll probably be upset that we didn't invite her." Lita stated thoughtfully.

"She was working, otherwise I would have. We could've used her energy." Ami replied.

Serena meanwhile was walking and daydreaming at the same time. She really had wanted to see Darien's face when he found the roses, but she had to admit it would be hard to explain the hows, and much harder to explain the why's. So for now she was content to just find out second-hand whether or not he liked it.

When they reached the Arcade, they went directly to the booth by the window that Ami, Mina, Lita and Rei always shared. Andrew came up to them as soon as he saw them.

"Serena, are you okay?" He asked quickly taking note of all the little scratches on her arms and taking them to be cuts from glass shards.

"I'm fine, why?" Serena asked as she sat down, looking up at him with wide blue innocent eyes.

"The youma attack on the children's hospital was all over the news last night and you and Darien were mentioned!" Andrew explained. "Darien called to tell me that he was alright, but he didn't know about you. He just knew that the Sailor Scouts had taken you off somewhere saying that you'd be fine."

Serena understood and smiled assuringly as she replied.

"They did a wonderful job taking care of me. I am fine!"

Ami and Lita smiled to themselves.

Andrew looked relieved and asked them what they wanted to eat.

As he took their orders, he noted the small scratches on the other girls arms. The ones on their legs went un-noticed as they were hidden under the table.

He didn't ask them about it though, he just took their orders and went quickly behind the counter to call Darien and let him know Serena was safe. Last night when Darien had called he sounded increasingly worried. Andrew understood how he felt. Though both of them hadn't known Serena for very long, Darien for a shorter time than Andrew, they both had come to love that little dim ball of sunshine. Andrew loved her like a little sister, Darien loved her . . . Well, Andrew wasn't quite sure how Darien loved her, but he hoped it was going in a certain direction, away from a certain red head.

Darien's cellphone rang twice before he answered.

"Darien Chiba here, what's up?"

"Darien, it's me, Andrew." Andrew responded, glancing toward the girls at the table and noticing that Mina and Rei had come to join them. "I'm calling to let you know that Serena is safe and here at the Crown Arcade."

Andrew heard Darien inhale deeply and exhale loudly.

"I'm glad to hear tha--." He trailed off for a moment, and then Andrew heard him mutter under his breath. "Go to the roof. What the heck for?"

"Darien, what's wrong?" Andrew asked, something in Darien's voice made him start to worry.

"There's a note taped to my appartment door telling me to 'go to the roof'." Darien replied, as the echo his shoes made as he climbed the metal stairs toward the roof made for a background noise. "I have no idea what for, and the handwritting is terrible."

Andrew chuckled.

"Alright, let's see what's on the roof shall we?" Darien asked Andrew through the phone as Andrew heard the door swing open on its hinges.

For the next five to ten seconds the only sounds Andrew heard was from the people around him. The phone line on Darien's end was total silence.

Andrew heard distinctly the giggles of those five girls above all the noise of everyone else.

"Dare, what's wrong?" Andrew asked in a low voice. "What's up man, talk to me!!!"

"There is . . . sand . . . and . . . roses . . . lots of roses . . . everywhere!!!" Darien choked out.

"Roses growing out of sand, on your roof?" Andrew asked him curiously trying to figure this out.

Darien wouldn't lie about something like this, Andrew knew it, but Andrew was seriously considering whether Darien's mental state had finally deteriorated beyond repair.

"And a pond." Darien added quietly after a moment.

By now Andrew had the phone pressed to his ear so hard that his ear was starting to hurt, was growing hot, and was probably red too. Having pressed it so hard to his ear, and pressed his other ear closed with his fingers, Andrew could just barely make out what sounded like a rock being thrown into water.

He was wondering if he was going crazy too.

"What the . . . ?" Andrew heard Darien whisper almost too low to hear.

"What is it Dare?" Andrew asked, not really wanting to know about anything else, though his curiousity to see this with his own eyes was growing.

"I found a . . ." Darien started to say and then stopped. "Well, never mind. Is Serena still there?"

Andrew glanced over his shoulder at the table. Mina and and Rei were giggling together, Lita was grinning ear to ear, Ami was smiling while reading a book that layed upon the table, and Serena was . . . staring at Andrew with a small smile on her lips. Her expression made Andrew feel like she knew what was going on at Darien's end, and that she could hear their conversation. It freaked him out a little.

"Uh, yeah, she's still here." He replied into the phone, glancing away.

"Great. I'm coming to talk to her." Darien stated slowly.

"You think Serena had something to do with that garden thing?" Andrew asked in shock.

He quickly glanced back at Serena. She was no longer looking at him, but trying to read over Ami's shoulder.

"No, I don't think she had anything to do with this. I think it's . . . someone else. I just wanted to talk to her." Darien replied.

"Oh, okay." Andrew sighed in relief.

After that look of knowing that was on her face just a few seconds ago, he wasn't so sure that Serena wasn't involved somehow. Don't ask him how she might be though, he couldn't come up with any answer for that.

"I'll be there in a few minutes." Darien told him in a more normal voice.

"See you then." Andrew replied, and they both hung up on each other.

~*~

Darien flipped his phone closed and slid it into his back pocket.

"What does this mean?" He asked himself, staring at the sandy white glove with three red stripes around the elbow that he held in his left hand.

He knew it was a Sailor Scout glove. No mistake on that, but who's? It was red, so either Sailor Mars, or Sailor Moon's . . . Could it be possible that either of them did this? If so what for? Did they know he was Tuxedo Mask? Was this a thank you or something else?

So many questions were running through Darien's mind, but he reminded himself that he was supposed to go to the Crown Arcade and make sure for himself that Serena was alright. She looked terrible last he saw her, and unless she was really okay he would keep beating himself up over the fact that he couldn't protect her when she had needed him yesterday.

Trying to shake the thoughts from his head, he stuffed the glove into his right front pocket.

Then he stroked the petals of the nearest rose. 

"Whoever planted you all here, don't worry. I'll take very good care of you." He whispered to them before turning around and walking toward the stairs, closing the door as he went.

The flowers seemed to grow a deeper shade of red and its petals stretched out a bit farther.

He had always had a way with roses . . .

~*~

Andrew started making Ami, Lita and Serena's orders and Rei and Mina's regular orders, but he looked over at Serena every chance he had.

She looked just as normal as the others beside her, only once did she pause in her smiling and laughing. Her eyes became unfocussed, and then her cheeks burned bright red. She smiled widely and then continued her conversations.

He was just starting to feel more comfortable, which was good considering the food was about ready to serve, when he nearly jumped out of his skin.

_**BAM**_

Something hit the wide window of the Arcade with quite a force!

Everybody jumped, and the noise immediately quieted as everybody looked to the window.

_**BAM**_

It hit the window again!

Serena was the first to leap to her feet and head for the door in a hurry.

_**BAM**_

Andrew couldn't see what it was except that it was a blur of white and gray, but he hoped that it wouldn't break the window.

Then he was reminded of the youma attack on the children's hospital yesterday, and he grew afraid that another youma had come back for Serena, though why he hadn't a clue.

He quickly grabbed a big knife from the rack and was rounding the corner of the counter just as Ami, Rei, Lita and Mina exited the door behind Serena.

He feared he might not get to Serena or any of the other girls in time to protect them.

Then he heard Serena cry out in a commanding voice that made his body just have to obey.

_**"STOP!" **_

_Everything_ stopped.


	11. Three of the Five

Tear Pearls

By LadyPrin

Disclaimer Applies.

Thanks to Sayain46, Valkyrie Celes (Serena and Mina would probably transform to get somewhere faster. ^-^), Jessicam242, Richforce, Honest Beauty, MerryMary05, Sailormoon0630, Gallantmon of the Hazard, SailormoonLuver101, KatBlue, White Neko, Markus777, FireWolfSky, Erika (There is probably going to be a lot more chapters to come, you'll know when the very last one is updated.), & Kariangelgrl!

I know this chapter may not be up to my normal par, but I haven't been in the mood to work on this in a while and plus my mom died recently. I hope this chapter is as long as it looked while writing it and I hope I can get back in the groove soon.

Recap-- "_**BAM**_

Something hit the wide window of the Arcade with quite a force!

Everybody jumped, and the noise immediately quieted as everybody looked to the window.

_**BAM**_

It hit the window again!

Serena was the first to leap to her feet and head for the door in a hurry.

_**BAM**_

Andrew couldn't see what it was except that it was a blur of white and gray, but he hoped that it wouldn't break the window.

Then he was reminded of the youma attack on the children's hospital yesterday, and he grew afraid that another youma had come back for Serena, though why he hadn't a clue.

He quickly grabbed a big knife from the rack and was rounding the corner of the counter just as Ami, Rei, Lita and Mina exited the door behind Serena.

He feared he might not get to Serena or any of the other girls in time to protect them.

Then he heard Serena cry out in a commanding voice that made his body just have to obey.

_**"STOP!" **_

_Everything_ stopped."

Chapter Eleven ~Three of the Five~

That voice.

That voice which only moments ago had been soft and sweet, now held so much power within it. Everyone inside the Arcade and out just had to obey that word, that voice. They all stopped what they were doing and some even held their breath, waiting . . . For something no one could put name to.

"What are you doing?" Serena asked the creature with concern.

Her soft voice broke the spell that her commanding voice had woven around everyone within the Arcade and on the street outside. No one could understand how that commanding voice had come from her. People started moving again, but slowly and most still stared at her.

The creature (which it turned out was a gray and white seagull of a very good size) fluttered in the air just above her head and looked down at her with one eye.

Then it swooped down to her and she took it in her arms, stroking its feathers gently.

Then she gently untied a string of seaweed that held something to his leg, and took it off.

It took flight again as Serena unfolded a fairly large flat piece of seaweed, that was pressed flat to make something akin to paper. Little markings were etched into the seaweed.

As Rei, Ami, Mina and Lita looked over her shoulder, Serena proceeded to read the markings. To the other girls the markings made no sense.

Then Serena gasped and turned around to face them so abruptly that Mina nearly fell over backwards.

"I'm sorry, I have to go for a little while. See you soon, okay?" Serena cried and then without waiting for a reply from any of them, she turned and ran down the street.

"Okay, why do I get the feeling that something's wrong?" Lita asked in a low voice, bending down a little to reach the other girls hearing range.

"Maybe because of that gasp, or maybe because she sounded and looked worried when she turned around." Mina offered. "I'd say let's follow her, but she's already out of our view, so where do you think she's going?"

"Where do you think a mermaid might go when there's trouble?" Rei asked in a soft voice.

"The beach?" Ami asked quizzically. "It's the only place within miles of here that touches the ocean, and she must have come from the ocean."

"It's worth a try." Rei agreed. "If Serena's in trouble it's our duty as her friends to watch out for her."

"Right!" Mina, Ami, and Lita agreed before following Rei down the street at a run.

Andrew stood staring after them.

He tried to wrap his brain around what he'd just experienced, seen, and overheard.

'A Mermaid? Impossible!' He thought to himself, shaking his head slightly. 'Just not possible.'

But some things were starting to click into place.

Just as Andrew started to believe that it could be possible a black motorcycle roared to a stop in front of the Arcade.

After turning off the engine, Darien pull off his helmet, and looked questioningly at Andrew.

"Andy, why are you standing in the middle of the sidewalk, still in your apron, and holding a big kitchen knife?" Darien asked calmly.

"Because a creature that we couldn't identify at the time was attacking my window viciously and I thought it might be a youma. It wasn't though, just a seagull and

once Serena read the note attached to its leg it flew off." Andrew explained absentmindedly.

"Uh?" Darien asked, not sure he understood everthing.

"There was a note attached to the seagull's leg and Serena detached it, it flew off, she read it and then she ran off. The other girls ran off after her." Andrew tried to explain better.

"Strange. Where'd they go?" Darien asked, getting a feeling he couldn't identify nor shake.

"The beach, I think." Andrew replied.

"Why the beach?" Darien asked.

Andrew decided not to tell Darien about the mermaid part, as he wasn't sure that Darien would believe him and even if he did believe, it wasn't his secret to tell.

He shrugged.

Darien was putting his helmet back on when Andrew spoke again.

"Hold on a minute Dare, I'm coming with you. I'm both curious and worried." Andrew said as he untied his apron and quickly ran inside the Arcade to put that and the knife up, and to tell one of his helpers to mind the counter.

Then he climbed on the back of Darien's motorcycle after quickly putting on Darien's spare helmet and they were off.

~*~

"Serena, charge of Professor Kenji of the Merpeople's Realm, we hearby order you to come back to the water. There is a matter of great importance that we must discuss with Professor Kenji, but as he cannot be found, you will have to do.

Come to us now, so we decree, Seiya, Taiki and Yaten the Mer-Prince's Three."

That's what the note read, the note that was now crumpled up in Serena's nervous fist.

'Why in the ocean would three of the five Mer-Prince's want to talk to me! I mean, I can understand why they'd want to talk to Professor Kenji . . . They said they couldn't find him, but where is he? Where could he possibly go that the Mer-Prince's couldn't find him?' Serena wondered as she made her way onto the beach.

It was crammed with people at this time of day, both on the sand and in the sea.

'I wonder what the Prince's look like anyway.' Serena thought to herself as she looked around. 'Professor Kenji has seen them multiple times for various reasons, but I've never met them myself. I've always stayed home.'

As she searched the beach she was unaware of four curious presences peeking out at her from behind a refreshment stand that at the moment no one was attending.

"It's too bad we don't have our bathing suits with us, it's a perfect day for a tan!" Mina sighed.

Rei knocked her on the side of her head.

"Well, it is!" Mina exclaimed defiantly.

"I agree, but we're watching Serena remember!" Rei replied.

"I know." Mina stated poutingly as she rubbed the back of her head.

"It seems she's looking for someone." Lita observed as Serena went to stand beside the building where people went to shower the sand off themselves.

"Do you think that the Generals have found out that she's Sailor Moon and have had the youma's take Darien as a hostage?" Mina asked suddenly.

"I don't see how they could have found out, but it's possible I guess, the way she reacted." Rei muttered.

"I don't think so." Ami replied.

"Why not?" Mina asked.

"Because Darien's right over there." Ami replied pointing to the parking lot not very far away. 

Darien and Andrew were just taking off their helmets.

"What in all the planets are they doing here?!" Rei exclaimed.

"Never mind that." Mina said, pointing around the stand. "What in all the planets are those?!!!"

Ami, Lita and Rei's heads all came around at once to see what Mina was pointing at and promptly bashed together. After a second of pain, they focussed in on Serena.

Right behind Serena's head two hands reached out for her, right around her waist two hands reached out for her, and right around her knees two hands reached out for her.

The hands were coming out of the closed door to the shower building.

"Oh, no they don't!" Lita cried just as they grabbed Serena around the knees, the waist, and her mouth so she couldn't scream. Everybody else on the beach was oblivious to her as she was pulled through the closed door.

"Why the--!" Rei growled. "Sailor Scouts Uni-!"

"What are you four doing hiding behind a refreshment stand?" Darien asked as he and Andrew came to stand behind them.

"Omf!" They all four exclaimed as they fell on top of each other in surprise.

"Darien! Andrew!" Lita exclaimed as they quickly pushed themselves up off the ground.

"And what were you saying about the Sailor Scouts?" Darien asked, with a raised eyebrow and an amused smile as he and Andrew started helping them to their feet.

"Ah, nothing." Rei answered, wondering if she'd blown their covers all to he-- hm, H, E, double toothpicks.

Darien's look of disbelief showed them he didn't believe her.

"So, girls." Andrew said before Darien could speak again. "How's Serena? She seemed upset when she took off."

Ami responded before Rei had a chance to try and deny anything again.

"Well, yes she was, and we're still not sure what she was upset about." Ami replied, looking worried. "We followed her here to see if we could help, but we seem to have lost her. She was going that way when you two startled us. As to the Sailor Scout thing you overheard, Rei sometimes likes to pretend that we're all Sailor Scouts when there's trouble around."

Since Ami had pointed in the wrong direction when she stated where Serena had went, Rei was sure that Ami was just getting them out of trouble and she would have gone along with it perfectly had it not been for Mina.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure it has something to do with that Tuxedo Mask fellow." Mina added sneakily.

Rei blew up.

She turned and tackled Mina.

While Lita did her best to part the two, Ami talked to Darien and Andrew.

"Since we'll be a few minutes trying to part those two, maybe you two can help us. Can you two go that way and see if you can't find Serena and see what's wrong with her?" She asked.

"Sure thing, Ami." Darien replied, as Andrew stared wide eyed at Lita as she held Mina up in the air like a wrestler about to throw his opponent, while Rei jumped trying to get her.

"Come on Mr. Lovestruck, you can see Lita do that later. I'm sure there's many more times to come." Darien assured his friend as he dragged him along.

Andrew snapped out of his trance and started trying to deny anything and everything.

Ami giggled, but as soon as those two mingled with the crowd, she turned to the other three.

"Alright girls, to Serena!" She cried sternly.

Rei stopped jumping and she and Lita nodded.

Lita promptly dropped Mina onto the sand.

"Ow!"

"Be sure Mina, I will get you back for that one!" Rei warned her.

While this little scene was taking place outside, here's what was happening inside.

Serena struggled as she was pulled through the wooden door, but the moment she made it through the door a stern voice spoke to her and she stopped.

"Serena, charge of Professor Kenji?" The stern voice asked.

Since a hand covered her mouth, Serena just nodded.

The hands let her go.

"Good, 'cause for a minute there, we were afraid we'd snatched up the wrong person." A friendlier voice added.

Serena turned around and looked at the three young men in swimming trunks.

One had long silver hair tied back at the base of the neck, one had long brown hair tied at the back, and the last one had long black hair tied at the back.

"We've never seen you before, but when Kenji came to see us he talked about you often. His descriptions always had you with silver hair, though." The friendly voice belonged to the long black haired one.

"We decided to risk taking you despite the hair color, because you were the only one here who had long enough hair." The stern voice belonged to the long brown haired one.

"You three must be--." Serena started to say, pointing at them.

"Three of the Five Prince's of the Sea, yes. I'm Seiya." The long black haired one confirmed.

"I'm Taiki." The long brown haired one continued.

"And I'm Yaten." The silver haired one finished.

Serena bowed to them all and and worried about upsetting them, asked hesitantly.

"I'm not sure what help I can be, but I'll try my best. Before anything else though, may I please ask what you mean by Professor Kenji cannot be found?"

They looked at each other.

"We were kind of hoping you knew where he went." Seiya admitted with a small smile of disappointment.

"I don't. Last I knew, he was going to stay in our home off shore where I could reach him if I needed help." Serena replied, now getting really worried.

Seeing her expression getting more and more worried, Seiya tried to calm her down.

"I'm sure he's just gone to a neighbor's house." He tried to assure her, as he took her hands in his.

She started to blush, but it didn't stop her from asking.

"The closest neighbor we have is over thirty sea miles away."

"It could be a very dear friend." Seiya tried to reason.

"If he was just visiting a friend, why would he leave the house looking like it'd been ransacked?" Taiki stated dubiously.

"It could've been a very sick dear friend who needed help right away." Seiya tried again with a frown, as Yaten elbowed Taiki in the ribs. "Anyway, what I'm getting at is everything with him should be fine."

"What are you, heartless?" Yaten whispered at Taiki behind Seiya's back.

"I'm not heartless! I'm just asking a question that she probably would have asked anyway!" Taiki tried to defend himself.

Seiya's chin dropped to his chest and he sighed.

"Please ignore my eldest brother." He asked in a some what tired manner.

Just then the door burst open and four angry girls stood at the threshold.

Taiki and Yaten took stances getting ready to fight.

Seiya used Serena's wrists to pull her behind him, and took his stance.

The light from the sun outside made the girls features impossible to see, but Serena recognized them when all four yelled "GET THEM!"


	12. Fishy Disapearence

Tear Pearls

By LadyPrin

Disclaimer Applies.

Thanks to MoonGoddessMagic, MerryMary05, RichForce, -TeAm EdWaRd32-, Jessicam242, Ashlyn Darke, Valkyrie Celes, Katblue, Lady Tristana Rogue, and to any I may have missed that reviewed and to those who favorited this story.

Thank you MoonGoddessMagic, MerryMary05, -TeAm EdWaRd32-, and Valkyrie Celes for your sympathy. I'm doing much better now and I hope your doing better yourself -TeAm EdWaRd32- over your loss too.

Enjoy.

Chapter Twelve ~ Fishy Disappearance

The four girls charged into the small room before Serena could get a sound out.

It only took two or three minutes, but by the time Serena found her voice the four girls had all three guys on the ground. Well, two on the ground, technically.

Rei had Yaten on his stomach and in a headlock with her flaming red high heels pressed into his bare back.

Ami had Seiya on his stomach also and she had somehow managed to use his long hair to tie his hands behind his back. She was also sitting on his back observing the progress of the others.

Lita had Taiki held up just like she had Mina a few moments ago. The difference is that while Mina had been sarcastically blowing kisses at Rei who couldn't reach her, Taiki had his arms pinned behind him with Mina sitting on top of them. It might be surprising to say, but holding them both up there with one struggling seemed a bit tough for Lita.

None of the girls had taken the time to transform into their Sailor forms, but it seems that they hadn't needed to in order to take the three guys down.

Now you know why Serena couldn't find her voice for those two or three minutes.

"Girls, please stop!" Serena finally pleaded.

Lita, Mina, Ami and Rei all looked at her questioningly.

"Why?" Rei asked.

"They're friends!" Serena replied.

"Pulling you through the door like they did, and then holding you by the wrists sure didn't look friendly to us!" Lita stated stubbornly, her grip on Taiki's midsection tightening just a little.

"Ah, ah!" Taiki protested.

Serena sighed.

"Ami, Rei, you remember our talk last night?" She asked softly.

"Yes." Ami and Rei both replied.

Mina and Lita nodded too. They hadn't been there, but Ami had sent them all the info earlier that morning to fill them in.

"They're three of the five." Serena stated softly.

Ami, Rei, Mina and Lita didn't understand.

"Three of the five what?" Mina asked, and then understanding dawned in Ami's eyes.

"Three of the five Prince's of the Sea?" She asked interestedly.

As Serena nodded, Taiki and Yaten exchanged glances with each other. Seiya would have too had he been facing that direction and if his neck wasn't on a strange angle.

"Oh!" Mina, Lita, Ami and Rei exclaimed, but not one of them moved.

"Just because they're Prince's doesn't mean they're friends." Lita stated wisely. "Are you sure they're friends Serena? Are you sure they mean you no harm?"

"I'm sure Lita. I'm sure." Serena assured them all in a soft firm voice.

"Okay then." Lita replied hesitantly.

Mina hopped down and went to stand by Serena. In one quick motion Lita swung Taiki down to the ground and hopped over to stand beside them.

Ami quickly untied Seiya's hair and pushed herself to a standing position.

Rei let Yaten out of the headlock, jumped up, grabbed Ami by the elbow and they ran over to the other girls.

As the three Prince's stretched and popped their bones back into place, Ami, Mina, Lita and Rei all stood protectively beside Serena watching them closely.

"Now I know why Mother forbid us from walking among humans very often." Seiya stated quietly, rubbing his neck.

Taiki turned to look at Serena with an angry expression.

"You told humans about us? More importantly, you told humans about Merpeople?" He asked incrediously.

Serena nodded with a worried expression.

"Yes, but just these four. They're my friends and they've helped me a lot, as I have helped them too! They wouldn't hurt us!" Serena stopped.

Seiya paused in his rubbing of his neck while Taiki and Yaten flexed their shoulders as examples.

"They wouldn't hurt me, and they wouldn't hurt other Mer-People without a good reason." Serena amended meekly.

Lita stepped forward.

Taiki, Yaten and Seiya all stepped back.

"We saw you pull her through the door. Normal humans don't have that ability and the only other beings we know who do have that ability are our evil enemies. We thought you were about to hurt her, and we won't allow it!" Lita stated defiantly.

The others nodded in agreement.

After serveying their faces for a moment the three Prince's looked at each other.

Serena then stepped forward.

"Please forgive them! They won't do it again!" She said bowing at the waist, her streamers touching the floor. "May we please get back to Professor Kenji?"

With a sigh and a tired expression, all three Prince's nodded consent.

"What about Professor Kenji, Serena?" Lita asked with a curious expression.

"He seems to be missing!" Serena quickly explained to the girls.

"Missing?" Rei asked.

Serena nodded.

"Prince Taiki said that our home looked ransacked too! I'm really worried! I know that he makes quite a few potions and stuff to help our neighbors and his other friends when they need him, but it's not like him to leave a big mess like that no matter how much of a hurry is in. Also he promised he'd stay near the shore to help me if I needed it and he always keeps his promises." Serena explained in a rush.

Then she turned to the Prince's.

"I'd like to go back to our home and look for myself! Maybe he just got preoccupied with his potions and experiments and has stayed at his cave all this time!" Serena's tone told them that she hoped for this more than she believed it.

"Alright." Seiya agreed, and the other two Prince's nodded.

"Ami, can you breathe underwater?" Lita asked in a thoughtful tone.

"Uh, no I can't." Ami replied, blushing a little. "I can only use water." She stated rotating her hands around in the air (wipe on, wipe off). "I can't live in it . . . . Yet."

"I was afraid of that." Lita admitted. "Then that means none of us can go with you Serena. What will you do if something happens? Like if you meet a youma down there?"

"Lita, although it is quite possible for a youma that fights underwater to exist, there is no evidence that there is one right now." Ami explained assuringly in her most lecturing voice. "Also, if a water youma does turn up it is just as possible that Serena can go Sailor Moon on it under the water and take care of it. Besides, I'm sure that the three Prince's of the Sea were planning on accompanying her down there, right?"

"Of course!" Seiya exclaimed, and the other two nodded.

"That's mainly what I'm afraid of." Lita admitted.

"I'll be fine Lita. I promise!" Serena assured her with a giggle.

~~*~~

"It's almost time for the sun to set, and the beach is becoming less populated." Ami noted as they exited the building and started walking toward the shoreline.

"We'd better hurry then if we don't want to get noticed." Yaten replied anxiously. "Just run with us into the sea and dive in. We'll change once under the water. The humans above won't see us."

"Right." Serena acknowledged.

"Come back soon, okay? Remember why you came here in the first place." Rei reminded her softly.

"I can't ever forget that." Serena assured her just as softly and with a smile. "I'll be back by tomorrow morning at the latest. Promise."

"If I'm not waiting for you here, I'll be waiting for you at the temple." Rei informed her.

"Got it!" Serena replied before separating from them and with a wave turned and ran with the others into the gentle waves.

Rei folded her arms around herself, and kicked at the sand by her feet as she watched Serena, Taiki, Seiya and Yaten dive into the waves once the water was waist high.

After a few minutes more of staring at the ocean still sprinkled with the bobbing heads of a few late evening swimmers, Ami spoke up.

"As much as I want to stay and wait for her, staring at the waves isn't going to do anything like make her come back sooner." She said with a sigh. "Let's go home and get some rest and come back here in the early morning to welcome her back?"

The others hesitantly agreed.

As the others turned and slowly walked up the beach, Rei still stared at the waves, entranced by their burning firy appearance with the setting of the sun. After a few more moments the sun set completely and the firy brillence was gone.

Rei sighed and turned around to find the others still standing a few feet behind her. Watching silently, and patiently waiting for her.

She smiled warmly and joined them.

~~*~~

Under the water the sea was dim, but not entirely black.

When Serena and the Prince's changed into their real selves, they're eyes changed too. Same color, but they adjusted so that even in the blackest of water they could still see.

Serena swam between Seiya and Taiki while Yaten swam ahead.

Seiya and Taiki had light grayish fins while Yaten had a white fin. Serena knew that many of the female part of their species called Yaten the White Prince, but she didn't know why he was the most popular of all five of the Prince's.

Thinking of which . . .

"If I may ask, where's your other two brothers?" Serena asked quietly, her voice the only sound around them though many fishes swam by.

"They're dead." Taiki said shortly, causing Serena to stop swimming momentarily and look at him with wide eyes.

Seiya gently took her hand and pulled her along with him until she started swimming on her own.

"They were on their way to see Professor Kenji." Seiya explained. "We don't know if they made it to him or not. All we know is that someone witnessed a monster attack them and came to tell us. He said that the monster resembled a shark, but at the same time was not a shark. We didn't stay long enough to hear much else. We swam as fast as we could to get here, hoping that Sapphire and Diamond had made it to Kenji's, but when we got here we couldn't find Professor Kenji. We found a bunch of seaweed pages with little notes and stuff which we figured out were about you. We figured out from those that he made a potion for you to become human and so we became human to find you, hoping you could help us locate him."

"If the monster hasn't hurt him . . ." Serena whispered fearfully.

Seiya and Taiki glanced at her, and Yaten glanced at her over his shoulder.

"Don't worry. I'm sure he's still alive. You'd know if he wasn't right?" Seiya asked, trying to sooth her. "People who have deep connections with each other always know when something's wrong."

Serena thought for a moment.

"I know something's wrong. I just don't think he's dead." Serena stated still in a whisper.

Seiya gently brushed his fin down her tail in a comforting gesture.

Feeling only a little better, Serena smiled a small smile at him.

"How can you three walk on land? Did Kenji make potions for you too?" She asked, delibritly changing the subject.

"Naw. Unlike the rest of the Merpeople, us Royalty can change at will and untimed. It's a survival instinct." Taiki replied.

"Look, there's your home, right?" Yaten asked, pointing ahead at a small dome of entwined coral.

"Yes." Serena answered quietly.

She flipped her fin harder and swam ahead of the others, swimming gracefully through the open doorway.

She then sank to her bent fin, like a human would fall to their knees, and looked around with disbelieving eyes.

The piece of a ships sails that once hung over the door to close it had been ripped off and now lay in rags across the piece of driftwood that Kenji had used to write his notes on. The driftwood was only half in place. The other half of it was across the room, half buried in the sand.

The two fishing nets that had been their beds had been jerked from their hanging places on the coral ceiling, breaking the coral and now they laid tangled up together over the broken pieces of glass that had once been Kenji's bottle collection.

The few bottles that had held a potion of his were broken along with the rest, and whatever potion had once been in them had long been carried away by the tides.

Seaweed papers and the many different shells he had used to write with were torn and scattered all over the place, stuck in the nets, laying on the sand, some completely gone.

Serena was nearly devastated.

This had been the only home she had ever known. One of the very few places she felt completely safe in. The only place she knew she could always come back to and be welcomed. But now that place was destroyed.

As Serena looked around with sad hurt eyes an image of the cave came to her mind.

Maybe he was there, just, maybe . . .

Using her fin, she pushed herself up off the sand, did a graceful backbend and swam out the door.

The Prince's were waiting for her outside, but she didn't speak to them as she swam past. If they wanted to follow they could, but she wasn't going to wait for them.

The tide was low.

Serena flapped her fin hard and fast so that she could leap onto the cave floor a ways in from the mouth of the cave.

It hurt slightly from all the little rocks, but she ignored them as she flopped up further onto the still damp floor.

Unlike her coral home this place looked undisturbed.

All the bottles with their liquids were all in their places. His notes still lying where she had last seen them lie . . .

In fact it looked exactly like it had when she had last been there, over three days ago.

This was not like him!

He would have done at least one experiment during the time she'd been gone! She knew of at least two he was planning on trying. All this neatness was her doing, she had cleaned up for him after his last experiment just before he started making her that potion. On his own he was never this neat, far from it.

Serena felt like crying, only something held her back. She felt like crying, she knew she should be crying, but the tears just wouldn't come. She felt almost like that time when the youma had cut her arm.

_"It'd be best not to cry now, my dear." _That voice from before told her softly. _"In fact it would be best not to cry at all for awhile longer. If you do, you'll lose something much needed."_

Serena wanted to argue with that voice. She wanted to scream and yell, but at the same time she was tired.

Too tired.

Kenji was gone, and she was alone.

_"No, Serena, you only feel alone, but you are not alone. Go to your new friends." _The voice continued. _"They will be able to help you. It's what friends are for."_

Serena breathed deeply and knew in her heart that the voice was right.

Not for the first time, she wondered who that voice was, but the voice chose not to reply.

Serena flipped and rolled her way back into the water, and as soon as she ducked her head under, she heard the yells.

She swam a little deeper and saw the three Prince's.

They were huddled together. Taiki's arm was bleeding from the shoulder to the elbow, Yaten's fin was stained with crimson blood, and all three were staring angrily at the monster that was swimmming toward them through the water.

It had the head and body of a shark, but here were the elements that made it not a shark. The eyes were not the black soulless eyes of a predator, they were instead the glowing red eyes of pure evil. Where the front fins would have been, were instead long gray arms with webbed claws at the end.

Serena knew instantly that it was a youma, and that it was the same one that had killed the last two Prince's of the Sea.

She wasted no time in changing.

When she had transformed into a mermaid, the light pink shirt she'd been wearing had stayed on. The transformation locket hung around her neck beside the necklance of Darien and Lita's tear pearls, tucked inside her shirt.

She pulled out the locket and yelled through the water, catching the youma's attention.

"Moon Prism Power Make-Up!"

Rainbow colored flashing lights danced through the water and lighting it up.

The youma and the three Prince's alike, flinched at the brightness of it.

The Prince's then watched amazed as the transformation ended and the human Sailor Moon floated above them.

"She has powers of her own?" Yaten muttered questioningly below his breath.

Sailor Moon had forgotten about the breathing underwater part when she had started her tranformation. Half way through she had remembered and took a deep breath of air.

Now she let it out in a yell, pulling her tiara from her forehead.

"MOON TIARA ACTION!"

The tiara flew through the water at the youma who didn't have the sense enough to even try to dodge it. The dumb thing kept swimming straight at it to the very end, probably because of its shark half.

It didn't scream, but for unexplainable reasons, when the youma vanished the water exploded.

The three Prince's were hurled toward deeper water while Sailor Moon was hurled toward the surface.

Sailor Moon felt the cool water rush down her throat.

She started choking uncontrollably.

The closer she got to the surface the lighter it should have become, but instead it was becoming darker.

As she felt herself drowning, her mind was calm.

She noted how funny it was that a mermaid could drown.

She also noted that she was missing a glove.

She felt her transformation end as her eyes closed and her body relaxed.

She was flung out of the water with tremendous force, but she never felt it when she hit the ground.

The force of the impact with the ground pushed all the water from her lungs, but Serena did not awaken.

~~*~~

Darien was starting to wonder if Andrew had lost it completely.

They had searched the beach over for hours looking for Serena, but they hadn't found her.

Once earlier in the day just a few minutes after starting their search for her, Darien had thought he had spotted Serena diving into the waves.

Andrew had then started acting like a crazy man.

He had grabbed Darien's arm and jerked him completely around and announced loudly that he had seen Serena in the opposite direction. He had then proceeded to drag Darien along after every blond haired teenager they had come across, female or not.

Darien had only managed to convince Andrew to give up the search an hour and a half ago.

They had met the other four girls in the parking lot, and the girls told them that they hadn't found Serena and that Serena had probably gone back to the Temple on Cherry Hill.

Darien had then driven Andrew back to the Arcade so he could close up.

After that Darien had driven back to the beach, not at all convinced that Serena had left it. He knew Rei hadn't told him the truth earlier, and Ami's version hadn't rung all true either. For the time he had known Rei, he knew that she wasn't the kind to pretend to be someone else. Not in front of anybody at any rate.

Things weren't adding up and he was determined to find the mistake in the equation.

Add on top of all that, he had just had the sensation of Tuxedo Mask being needed by a Sailor Scout, but it had lasted only two minutes. He didn't even have time to change, much less find her.

Then the big explosion happened.

He had no idea what had happened beneath the surface, but suddenly about twenty-three feet out from where the land dropped off under the water, the ocean erupted with the force of a volcano.

The force was so strong the water made it all the way to the land, showering Darien, knocking him from his feet, and forcing the breath out of him.

The water was not hot or mingled with lava like as if an underwater volcano had erupted, and Darien was confused.

He laid there, catching his breath and half expecting the water to do it again.

After a moment he raised his head, sand sticking to his wet forehead and hair. He used his arm to wipe his forehead. It didn't do much for the sand, but it got his hair out of his eyes.

It was then that he saw her lying on her stomach a few feet away.

Her long blond hair had come undone from their buns and was now spread over her, covering her naked body which her untransformation had not redressed. What little he could see of her skin under the golden hair was turning a light shade of red.

She wasn't awake, but from her breathing she was alive.

Darien crawled on his knees over to her, and glanced out over the now deceptively calm ocean.

He didn't know what was going on, but he wanted to get Serena and himself as far away from here as possible.

First though, Serena needed a bit more covering.

Darien transformed into Tuxedo Mask, regardless of the risk of being seen, though he needn't have worried anyway as no one human or otherwise was near.

He unhooked his cape from around his neck and gently wraped Serena up in it.

Then just as gently he picked her up and headed for his apartment.

He decided to come back for his bike, later.

He never noticed the broken bracelet a few feet away or the glistening green pearls that were scattered across the sand around it.

He would never see them as the waves rushed in to gently scoop them up and carry them away.

~~*~~

He wondered how long these creatures were going to keep him hanging here.

His wrists were getting chaffed by the chains around them. He had tried to break the chains, but they held unbreakable and as far as he could tell they weren't even attached to anything. Or maybe they were just attached to the darkness that surrounded him.

He had lost track of how long they had kept him here, but he was slowly drying out. The creatures that had kidnapped him from his home had given him no water and had shown him no mercy.

They had tried relentlessly and in so many ways to get something out of him, but he still had no idea what they wanted.

They wanted something, a jewel of sorts, but he didn't know a thing about it.

They wouldn't accept that for an answer.

They kept mentioning someone, but even if he knew the person, which he didn't, he wouldn't have given an answer.

His whole body ached from head to fin, and his only comfort was memories.

Memories of Serena, and of another who he long ago lost.

Footsteps.

Someone was approaching!

He raised his head as far up as he could, for his neck was very stiff.

A woman.

A woman with long reddish brown hair, purplish skin, and red eyes came walking into view. She wore a form fitting purple gown that trailed out behind her like live tendrils searching for something on the ground that she had just walked upon.

An eerie light surrounded her, which was the only reason he could see her at all.

His tired mind also noted the answer to a question that had been nagging him for a while now.

Yes, there was an actual floor here.

She did not speak, but she held something in her hands.

He watched her approuch, but his head became too heavy to hold up.

His chin dropped to his bare chest and he just waited tiredly for the woman to speak.

Still she did not speak.

She just threw something at him.

Water! It was water!

His head jerked up and he managed to capture a small amount of water in his mouth before the wave ended.

He swallowed the water little by little instead of one big gulp, making it last to the very last drop.

After he had swallowed, he opened his eyes and looked at the woman again.

She still did not speak, but she watched him with those cold, hard reddish brown eyes.

When she turned to walk away, he called out to her.

"Thank you!" He said in a raspy voice, much worn out from screaming.

She paused and turned back to him.

"Do not thank me just yet, fishboy." Beryl told him in a toneless voice. "You shall face more pain tomorrow that will last until we have what we want."

He watched her go until the darkness swallowed her completely from his view, and her footsteps faded compeletely from his ears.

Kenji rested his chin on his chest again, and thought that there was something strangely familiar about that woman, but what he did not know.

Then he himself was swallowed by darkness, the darkness of the mind.


	13. Lost Hearts

Tear Pearls

By LadyPrin

Disclaimer Applies.

Thanks to Lady Tristana Rogue, RichForce, Stranger, Jessicam242, Katblue, & Valkyrie Celes! Thanks to all who faved too!

(I thought about making Serena turn into Sailor Mermaid Moon, but I didn't for two reasons. One, the idea was a bit hoky. Two, I have read a couple fanfics where she did that and my mind likes to go the oppisite way from what's already been done, most of the time. So be careful and stayed tuned! She may be the Princess, and then again, maybe not, and then again . . . .)

~*~ Chapter Thirteen ~*~ Lost Hearts

She took a few more steps into the surrounding darkness and then knelt on both knees.

She folded her hands together in her lap and bowed her head. Her reddish-brown hair fell over her shoulders and covered the sides of her face and exposing her pointed ears.

Her breathing started out ragged, but gradually calmed.

She then raised her head and spoke into the darkness.

"Empress Mettalica, I must speak with you." Her voice held only a hint of the struggle that had raged within.

"I am here. Speak." A female voice answered from the darkness.

Beryl took a moment to think and then spoke in a low flat voice.

"Empress Mettalica, can you please remind me what it is I'm doing on this planet?" She asked.

There was silence for a moment and Beryl was sure she had angered Empress Mettalica for seeming to have fogotten her great purpose for being. In truth, Beryl hadn't forgotten, she just needed to be reassured.

Finally Mettalica spoke.

"Queen Beryl, have you forgotten that you were once the overseer of my Kingdom, The Negaverse? That when you died defeating the Silver Queen of the Moon thousands of years ago, that I took it upon myself to bring you back?

I followed the Crystal to this planet, to this time, and immediately found a human body close to death. I admit a human body is much weaker than the body you had before, but it would do for the time being. Creatures close to death are easy to invade, and this one proved no different. Her spirit had already left the body, so it was even more easy to simply attach your spirit to it.

As you grew stronger and more in control, the body started to change to fit your original appearence. Filled with a small part of my mighty power, you started searching among the humans, disguised as one of them. You seek the Golden Prince of Earth, Endymion.

I know that when the Silver Queen died, her baby had not yet been born so she would intrust the Crystal to someone she trusted most. I know she had that kind of trust in the Prince. I also know that you had once desired that Prince for yourself. I know you still do.

I made you a promise. You could have the Golden Prince as a reward for finding and giving me the Crystal.

Have you forgotten that promise?!"

The last sentence she spoke, she yelled and Beryl flinched.

"I have not forgotten my Lady, it's just--." She paused, trying to find the words to explain her problem, and wondering how she could explain and not be killed for it. "Back then I had learned all I could about him. Using what I remember of it I have searched for him here. I have gone through hundreds of men that fit his profile, some even who fit just his looks and not his profile, and I have had suspicions about a couple of them, but--."

"Are you telling me that you cannot feel his aura anymore?" Mettalica asked in a cold hard voice.

"At times I can feel his aura, but it's very dim and doesn't last for very long." Beryl replied.

"Then focus your desire to have him! Your desire, if it is as strong as you once proclaimed it to be, shall lead you right to him!" Mettalica stated harshly.

"That's just it, my Lady!" Beryl cried, finally raising her head to peer pleadingly into the darkness, her red eyes started to tear with her frustration and confusion. "I've tried! I've tried as hard as I can, but I'm . . . conflicted! It's like half of me wants the Golden Prince desperately, but the other half wants someone else.

I have tried to squash these feelings, but I can't because I don't understand them! If the other side of me wanted the other man for the same reason I want the Prince I could understand that, but it doesn't! It wants him for another reason and that reason that I don't understand is stopping me from concentrating my full power and desire on the Prince!

I've been struggling with this for months and I fear that because I'm conflicted and confused that I've missed him!

Please Empress Mettalica, rid me of these feelings! These wretched human emotions! I should not be feeling such things, they are beneath me!" 

The tears started streaming down her face and she bowed her head allowing her hair to cover her face once more.

Mettalica was silent for a moment, then spoke in a softer voice.

"Ah, I understand. It seems the spirit of the human woman still resides within that cold beating heart. The emotion you feel is called Love, and it's that sickly emotion that is making you unfocussed and confused. The love she holds for that other man must be strong indeed to be able to overcome your desire for the Prince. You alone are not strong enough, but I am."

Beryl lifted her head slowly as the darkness moved up behind her.

Whisps of thick darkness reached out and caressed her arms. It moved up her back and wrapped around her neck.

As Beryl lifted her head fully back, and the thick darkness rose to cover her face Mettalica spoke again.

"Feel my embrace Queen Beryl, breathe me in, accept my dark essence back into your heart, and those emotions will soon yield."

The darkness covered her face and and she breathed it in through her mouth and nose. Her eyes flashed a brighter red and her skin became a darker purple. Her dress around her flared for a moment as if it was alive too, and then settled.

The darkness disapeared and Beryl lowered her head back down.

She stared into the darkness and took a deep breath.

Then she smiled, showing her pointy teeth.

"Now, look back at all the men you singled out and tested." Mettalica commanded. "Have you found the Golden Prince?"

Beryl closed her eyes and thought.

After a moment of silence, she opened her eyes again, and evil desire filled them once more.

"I have, my Lady." She announced triumphantly. "And his name is Darien Chiba."

~~*~~

"Uh, wha--?" Rei mumbled as she slowly came out of her trance.

Well, it was sleep really.

The minute she had gotten home she went to the great fire and put herself into a trance hoping to be able to see if Serena was okay. She hadn't gotten anything and halfway through the trance she had fallen asleep.

She was now awoken by a loud ringing noise.

The temple phone.

She heard her Grandpa answer it and was just getting ready to go back into a trance when he yelled to let her know that the phone was for her.

Grumbling she stood up slowly, allowing her stiffened muscles to relax.

When she made it to the phone she stifled a yawn before answering.

"You've reached the Cherry Hill Temple, Rei Hino speaking."

"Rei, we've got to talk." Darien's voice answered from the other end.

"Oh, Darien, it's you! Sure, whatcha' want to talk about?" She glanced at a small clock beside the phone and added. "This late at night."

"We need to talk face to face." Darien replied. "Meet me at my apartment."

"Now? Why? If we can't talk over the phone, can't it wait 'til morning?" She asked surprised.

"No, it can't wait 'til morning, Rei." Darien answered firmly. "It's about Serena."

Rei sucked in a breath.

"I need answers and I need them tonight!" Darien continued, ignoring Rei's intake of breath. "Oh, and don't forget to bring a pair of clothes, please."

With that, he hung up, leaving Rei stunned on the other end still holding the phone in her hands.

"Has he found out?" Rei whispered, wide eyes staring at the now dead line.

After a moment of thought, she hung up that phone and pulled out her little red phone.

She flipped it open and wrote a message, and then sent it to three numbers.

She flipped it closed and proceeded to her room to rifle through her closet for an outfit.

~~*~~

She looked beautiful with her hair down like that, and the moonlight shining through the window upon her.

She looked like an angel.

Darien made himself look away and out the window.

When he had got home he had used his cape to dry Serena as much as he could and then placed her in his bed, covering her with a sheet.

From a doctor's perspective there was nothing really wrong with her, except he could tell that she had almost drowned.

'Knowing her she probably doesn't know how to swim.' Darien thought wryly.

Darien grabbed a comb from his dresser and pulled up a chair to the side of the bed. He then started combing the tangles out of Serena's golden hair.

He had called Rei and demanded her presence because he knew that she would have the answers he sought. He wanted to know why she and her friends had lied to him, why Andrew had acted so weird on the beach, and why Serena was in the shape she was in.

He didn't want to try to get those answers out of Serena herself if she woke up. She'd been through enough.

He paused in his combing and looked at her face when Serena moaned and turned her head slightly.

She kept sleeping though and he started combing again.

As he combed he glanced over at a picture of Beryl that sat on his nightstand.

It was the only picture he had of her and its quality wasn't all that good. The image had been on the television when he had snapped a picture of it with his camera.

It showed Beryl walking through the park and smiling.

Darien had cut out the other part of the photo where a Japanese General stood. Beryl was smiling at the General, who was probably her new boyfriend, but Darien wanted to pretend that she was smiling at him.

Beryl had never liked pictures being taken of her. This one had been snapped by a lucky tabloid photographer.

Darien recalled that Beryl liked the strong warrior type, which that candidate for mayor probably wasn't.

He didn't have a clue why Beryl chose to start a relationship with him, but like all the others he had considered himself lucky.

He knew the rumors of her being cold, cruel, and going through boyfriends like she did pieces of chocolate, but he had never seen that side of her. He had always seen the good soft side.

She was cold though, when she had refused his marriage proposal.

He had known better than to expect a yes from her. He wasn't her type, but he couldn't help but hope. She had lasted longer with him than with any of the others.

She hadn't wasted any time in moving on.

Darien looked back at Serena's sleeping peaceful face.

He was remembering the Sailor Scout who had told him in no uncertain terms to get off his depressed bum and get back in the world.

After a moment, he lowered his eyes and noted that Sailor Moon's hair had been the same color as Serena's . . . and about as long . . .

His eyes jerked back up to look at Serena's face.

'Was she Sailor Moon?' He wondered. 'That would explain a few things . . . Was it her glove I had found?'

He stood up, placed the comb on the nightstand, pulled out the Sailor glove from his back pocket and looked at it.

He decided to try something.

He placed the glove on her palm and gently closed her hand around it.

After a moment, her hand sqeezed it and the glove disapeared.

'She is!' Darien realised in amazement. 'That would explain why I felt needed before that explosion! But what was the motive behind that garden up there . . .?'

He heard a knock at the door and decided to ask Rei.

He quietly walked out of the room and closed the door.


	14. Water Makes the Truth Come Out

Tear Pearls

**  
**By LadyPrin

Disclaimer Applies.

Thanks to James Birdsong, Katblue, Bakagirl123, Richforce, Markus777, Kate, Valkyrie Celes, Lady Tristana Rogue, & RoseDream!

Thank you also to all those who faved the story!

Also, thank you everyone for giving Tear Pearls 120 reviews!!! I'm so happy!

~*~ Chapter Fourteen ~*~ Water Makes the Truth Come Out

Serena gently opened her eyes and stared at the closed door. 

'He knows one of my secrets now.' She thought. 'I wonder what he's thinking . . .'

She sat up and stretched.

After a moment of looking around, she wrapped the white sheet around herself and slid out of the bed.

She tiptoed to the door and opened it just a crack.

She could see the living room where Rei and Darien faced each other, one on either side of the room, the sofa in between them.

Rei clutched a couple pieces of clothes tightly in her arms and her face looked nervous.

"So, why did you want me to bring clothes?" Rei asked hesitantly.

"For Serena, she needs them, but at the moment she's sleeping." Darien replied, crossing his arms and staring at Rei with those dark blue eyes of his. "I want answers Rei. I need them. This whole situation is driving me crazy!!!"

"Answers about what?" Rei asked, her voice trembling now.

"Serena's Sailor Moon right?" Darien asked bluntly.

Rei looked to the side and thought about lying.

"Don't lie to me Rei." Darien said, knowing what she was thinking of doing. "You were never a good liar."

Rei looked back at him for a moment, calm in her eyes.

"No, actually, I've been a pretty good one for quite a few years." Rei stated kind of smugly, then her smugness vanished. "How'd you find out?"

"One of her gloves was left in the garden on the roof." Darien explained, feeling a little unsettled because of the swift smugness that Rei had just shown. "I just put it in her hand a moment ago and it vanished, probably to join the rest of her outfit."

Rei nodded in agreement.

"Ami has theorized that our outfits get stored in some dimensional portal or something, kind of makes sense." Rei stated thoughtfully.

"Our?" Darien qouted questioning, while his mind plotted out the route that this statement was leading toward.

"Yes, our." Rei stated firmly, decided that if Serena's identity was known at least her own identity would be known too so that Serena wasn't alone.

Also, though she didn't think that Darien was the type to do it, but if he did decided to try something dirty he would be warned that fire would burn him for it!

"While she is Sailor Moon, I am Sailor Mars!" Rei declared, chin held high.

Darien smacked a hand against his forehead.

"I should have seen that coming." Darien replied sheepishly. "Pretending to be Sailor Scouts", you never pretend to be someone you're not. I know that much."

Then something hit him.

"Wait, Ami knows about you two?" He asked in surprise.

A moments pause in which he realized something else.

"Yeah, with Ami's IQ it'd be a impossible not for her to figure it out." He answered his own question.

Rei just let him think it.

"Anyway." Darien brought his attention back to Rei. "So, I think I got the answers for some of my questions. You and your friends lied to me back on the beach because you and Serena were on Scout business. Andrew was acting so darn weird because he's in on your secrets too. And fighting the Negeverse would explain that big explosion in the water and Serena being in the shape she's in."

Rei would have let him believe the solution that his mind had given him by way of logic for the first part, but the last two were new to her.

"Andrew knows? When did he find out?" Rei cried in surprise and in turn surprising Darien. "Oh, if Lita or Mina babbled to him, I'm gonna'---!!!"

Rei made a fist with one of her hands and Darien could just envision fire burning around her. He took a small step back.

Then Rei's angry expression instantly disapeared and she lowered her fists.

"What explosion in the water?" She asked worriedly. "And what shape is Serena in anyway??"

As Darien started to explain what had happened that night, Serena started getting that familiar feeling again.

'It seems I'm needing to wash my fin more and more frequently.' Serena noted.

As Darien neared the end of his explanation, Serena quietly opened the door all the way and slipped out.

She went up behind him quietly and waited for a pause in his voice.

"So I brought her back here to get her dry." Darien paused to breathe.

"Water?" Serena asked in a small soft voice.

"Kitchen, over there." Darien replied, pointing to a door straight across the room from his bedroom, not realizing who he was talking to because he was so focussed on Rei's reactions.

He didn't even turn around.

Rei however watched Serena as Serena smiled at her and walked quickly toward the kitchen. As far as Rei could see, Serena looked fine.

Darien watched Rei's eyes as they watched something behind him. Only then did he register the voice, and quickly turn around to look.

The end of Serena's now mostly dry golden waves were all he caught before they too disapeared into the kitchen.

"Well, she's up and moving around, and can talk, so maybe she doesn't have a concussion. I was sure she was going to have one." He muttered, half to himself and half to Rei, relief coloring his tone.

"Well, she looks fine. I'm going to go get her into some clothes now." Rei told him firmly. "No peeking!"

Darien watched as Rei disapeared into his kitchen too.

Darien shook his head and tried to think.

Then he heard a light tapping on the glass door that led to his balcony.

He turned and what he saw was three silhouettes of what looked like four armed humanoids.

He yelled and toppled backwards over his sofa.

Rei came rushing into the living room, ready to transform.

Unlike Darien who was trying to get up off the floor, Rei recognized the three girls outside the window. What looked like two extra arms was really their waist bows blowing in the wind.

Rei slid the door open and smiled a small smile.

"Dang it's windy tonight!" Venus commented as she brushed some blond hair out of her face.

"I feel a storm coming." Jupiter added rounding the corner of the sofa.

"It'll hit in about twenty to thirty minutes." Mercury stated reading her little hand held computer. "I have a feeling this storm isn't natural."

"Well, speculate on that while I help Serena finish what she needs to finish." Rei told them as she started walking toward the kitchen again.

"So, Darien, why are you still on the floor?" Jupiter asked politely as she offered him her hand.

"Because I can't get up!" Darien replied.

He took the offered hand and Jupiter quickly and gently pulled him to his feet.

"You three startled me." Darien admitted sheepishly, straightening his clothes.

"Startled, ha. We scared you senseless! Didn't we Ami?" Venus asked Mercury with glee.

"It would appear that we did." Mercury replied.

"Ami?" Darien asked surprise.

His mind having registared who she was, he was now able to see her clearly and wondered why the heck he hadn't seen it before.

She smiled at him warmly.

His mind did the math and came to the conclusion of who the other two were. He looked at Venus and saw Mina, who smiled at him and winked. He looked at Jupiter and saw Lita, who gave him the peace sign.

Once again Darien found his hand slapping his forehead. 

'I really should have seen that coming!' He silently scolded himself.

Then came a knock at the door.

'Oh, great! Just what I need! Someone to come in here and find the Sailor Scouts!' Darien thought worriedly.

"Listen girls, can you please go in with Rei and Serena while I answer this?" Darien asked politely.

All three girls understood and detransformed on their way to the kitchen, talking quietly with each other.

When Darien opened the door he was surprise yet again.

"Beryl!" He cried.

Should he have seen that one coming? He wasn't sure.

"Hi Darien. Is this a bad time?" Beryl asked, brushing her reddish-brown hair behind her ear.

"Uh." Darien took a second to think because although he wanted to instantly say no, he could hear the girls' voices beginning to rise from the kitchen.

"Maybe, I'm not sure yet." He replied, and Beryl could see the worry reflected in them.

She opened her mouth to ask something and stopped as the voices reached her too.

"Oh, I had yet to see you like this!" Mina cried.

"You're even prettier than I imagined!" Lita complimented.

Serena's reply was softer and slightly muffled.

"What's going on Darien?" Beryl asked, her brown eyes flashing as they looked up into Darien's.

""Um, well." Darien had no idea how to explain.

Then there was shrieking and giggles mixed together.

Mina came running from the kitchen, her whole body soaked.

"Darien, where's your towels?" She asked, with a smile on her face.

"In the closet in the bathroom off of my bedroom, why?" Darien asked, pointing the way to his bedroom.

"We broke your faucet! Sorry!" Mina replied, still giggling, as she ran into the bedroom.

"Broke my faucet? How the heck did you do that?" Darien cried, and forgetting for a moment that Beryl was there he ran to the kitchen door.

The sight he saw was breathtaking.

With the bottom part of her silvery/gray fin in the sink under the running water, Serena sat on the counter talking to Rei, her golden hair falling over the side of the counter.

She had on a red short sleeved shirt now and the sheet was on the floor already soaked through.

As Darien stared, Serena brushed her golden hair out of her face and glanced over at him. For a moment their eyes connected, a soft blue and a dark blue looking deeper into the other's heart than they had to anyone elses.

Darien felt something strong, something he'd never felt even with Beryl.

Then she smiled, softly, shyly.

Darien slowly started to smile back.

Then he felt the shocking cold of the water leaking through his shoes and soaking into his socks.

He blinked and the world fell apart.

"You're a--?" Darien started to say, wondering how the heck it was true.

Rei turned around to see him and smiled a little guiltily.

"This is--, uh . . ." Lita started to say, her eyes following the water gushing all over the floor rather than the Mermaid fin that gently flipped against her arm.

"Awkward." Ami finished, just standing in one spot and blushing.

Mina came running into the kitchen, slipped on the water and dropped the towels as she grabbed Darien's arm. She pulled them both to the floor with a small splash.

Mina broke out in laughs and Darien couldn't help but laugh too. Rei, Lita and Ami laughed as well.

Then Darien heard another laugh join in and he stopped laughing himself to listen to it better. It sounded like chimes, but at the same time he had images of sparkling moonbeams flash through his mind.

He stared up at Serena as she laughed for he was enchanted.

Then she stopped and stared over his head.

"Um, hi!" She said softly, hesitantly.

Beryl!

He had totally forgotten about her!

He tried to get to his knees too quickly and fell back to the floor, but the second attempt was better. Once he was on his knees he turned halfway around to look at Beryl, fearful that she would take this the wrong way, and though he hated to admit it, he was also afraid that Beryl might think to do the wrong things having a beautiful creature of fantasy right in front of her.

Rei was staring at Beryl with violet eyes that promised a horrible sunburn if Beryl tried anything.

Lita flexed her hands by her sides and stared calmly at Beryl with liquid green eyes that watched her every move.

Mina sat up in the water on the floor and just stared wide eyed at Beryl, not physically preparing for anything, but mentally mapping where this situation could go.

Ami stood silently, her light blue eyes turned suddenly cold looking as she stared at Beryl and she calculated all the weak points of the human body, just in case.

Serena just stared calmly and shyly at Beryl. She wasn't afraid, nor did she have any idea about what the others were thinking could happen. She just wanted to see the woman that had won Darien's heart. She wanted to know what special quality Beryl had that she didn't, so that she could understand better.

Since Serena wasn't expecting anything, she wasn't surprised by Beryl's reaction, but everyone else was.

Beryl stared long and hard at what everyone thought was Serena, but was actually the water rushing over the side of the sink.

"That is one really broken faucet, Darien." She stated in a flat voice. "You're water bill is going to be unbelievable."

Then she turned her head to look down at Darien.

"Can we please talk for a moment Darien? Alone?" She asked in the same flat tone.

Darien's eyes flitted from her to Serena, to the water and back to her. Then he looked directly at Serena.

The emotion he saw within her eyes was sadness and it hurt him. It hurt him to see her so sad, and though he didn't fully understand the reason why, he knew that he was the cause. That hurt his heart even more.

But Serena suddenly smiled, and when she spoke her tone was light.

"Go on Darien! Don't worry, we'll take care of the mess and we'll make the water stop running!" She assured him, flipping her tail a little too energetically and splashing Lita anew with water.

"Sorry!" Serena whispered at her.

Lita smiled to let her know it was alright.

Darien slowly stood up and nodded okay, but at the same time something deep within warned him not to go.

But like most victims of evil do, he ignored his instincts and walked slowly away with death herself.

~*~

As Darien closed the appartment door, the girls in the kitchen heard him tell Beryl that the roof would be the perfect place to talk.

Rei almost blew her lid.

"What does he think he's doing?" She struggled to keep her voice down. "After all the hard work we put into making that rose garden grown in sand on a rooftop, he's going to take _that_ girl up there?! It's Serena he should be taking!!!"

"Rei, calm down, please." Serena's soft voice said.

The water calmed the fire instantly.

"But Serena!" Rei said softly. "How can you be okay with this?"

Serena stared at her fin and smiled slightly, a sad little smile.

"When Professor Kenji gave me legs, I made myself a promise." Serena explained. "That I would win his heart or at least mend it." 

She sighed.

"I don't think I've won his heart, I'm not sure if I've spent enough time with him to do so, but maybe I can still mend it. If Beryl has realized that she does love him and has come back to him, that would surely mend his heart! That would surely make him happy. I'm not going to stand in the way." She finished.

"But Serena, I really don't think that Beryl would be good for him!" Lita added, a worried look on her face. "She's known to be a scheming cold witch of a woman! Would you really give Darien over to someone like that?"

Serena looked up at Lita.

"No, I wouldn't, but do you actually know Beryl? Do you know her enough to be positive that she's like that?" She asked quietly.

All four girls looked at each other.

"Well, not really. Only Rei has actually met her before now, but it was only for three or four minutes. Rei really didn't like her attitude, but it could just have been because Rei had been Darien's girl before then and Beryl just wanted to let her know she couldn't have him back." Ami answered.

"It did kind of feel that way." Rei admitted.

"Just now, when I saw her in person for the first time and she stared at the water around me, I saw something within her." Serena stated. "I'm not sure how to explain it, or even what it was exactly that I saw, but there was something good in her. I want to give her one more chance, to be the woman Darien wants, and needs. If it doesn't work out between them this time around, I'll learn from her mistakes, and then see what I can do for him."

After a moment of silence, Rei sighed.

"Alright Serena, if that's what you want to do. We're with you all the way!" She proclaimed.

Serena smiled as the other chipped in.

"Now, Ami, how do we fix the darn faucet? With all this water someone's going to be melting soon!" Lita stated.

"Oh, don't be silly Lita. Nobody here is made of sugar." Ami replied with a smile as she got her little computer out.

"Are you sure about that?" Lita asked quietly, looking at Serena who was splashing water back and forth with Mina.

"Almost nobody." Ami ammended with a knowing smile.

Meanwhile something Darien had said earlier was making Rei think.

'How did he know it was the Negeverse we are fighting?' She silently thought. 'For all he knows we're just fighting evil. What do you know Darien, that you're not telling us . . .?'

~~*~~

I was going to make this a bit longer, but it's been so long since I last updated I decided to split what I'd written and post seperately. Please stay tuned for the next chapter coming soon - Battlefield of Roses!

Petals will go flying!

See ya' there!


	15. Battlefield of Roses

Tear Pearls

By LadyPrin

Disclaimer applies.

Thanks to Bakagirl123, Richforce, Anony, James Birdsong, Ashlyn Darke, Markus777, Katblue, & Uranusfan1! And also to those who faved, but never reviewed! ^-^

Chapter Fifteen ~*~ Battlefield of Roses ~*~

Beryl watched Darien closely as he lead her up the stairs to the roof.

She had been among humans long enough to know what that creature in his kitchen was. A Mermaid. A mythical creature that lived in water and was said to have never existed or to no longer exist, but Beryl had no time to examine it. After she was done with claiming Darien, maybe then she could find the time to examine it, after all every new creature provided a small amount of energy and every little bit counted when it came to making Empress Mettalica stronger.

She had wondered briefly about what those five girls were doing in Darien's kitchen, but soon it would be of no matter to her.

When Darien opened the door to the roof, Beryl paused to take in the unexpected sight. Her brown eyes quickly took in all the red roses that now grew so high, they were nearly level with her head. Beryl had been up here once before and these were not there then, but Beryl quickly decided that Darien must have planted them. He had a fondness for roses just like his past self had so long ago and Beryl took it as more proof of his identity.

"Do you like them?" Darien asked her, and she could tell what answer he wanted from the sound of his voice.

"Yes, very much!" Beryl replied, though inwardly she despised the flowers and what they represented.

She knew though that she had left Darien in such a way that she needed to make him desire her again if she wanted her plan to claim him to work much more quickly and easily.

She bent down to the nearest rose and proceeded to sniff it, pretending to enjoy the scent. Then she stopped abruptly. She sniffed again, but slower and more deeply.

There was a scent to this flower that she found familiar, but a scent that she also despised and not just for how pretty the flower was or what the flower stood for. This was a scent from long ago, yet mingled with the scent of another, another who was not Darien. Like two separate scents put together to make one person.

She felt the uncontrollable urge to identify the scent and she reached for the stem of the flower to break it off, as if that would somehow help her.

Her hand met with thorns and she gasped as they sank into her skin and she started bleeding.

Darien immediately moved to her side to see what had happened and how badly she was hurt, but Beryl was not focussed on him.

The rose held memories. Memories from the start of its birth in a pot, to the person who gave her blood to help it grow to it's new size. It held memories of that girl's feelings as she did this. The overwhelming feelings of love and adoration, of desire and the need to protect. The rose also held the memory of that girl's face in all three of her forms, and Beryl knew her immediately.

The new Sailor Scout that her four evil Generals had thrown some of their best youmas at and lost to! The Sailor Scout that was the same girl as the Mermaid in the kitchen!

Her eyes focussed on Darien again as he was saying something to her.

She knew that she had to claim him fast, so that she could go destroy the girl who had the scent she despised, powers she feared, and feelings for Darien that she did not have nor could possibly understand.

She turned to Darien and looked up into his dark blue eyes and said the words she knew he'd been dying to hear that day on the cliff.

"Darien, I realized that I love you. I hope it's not too late to ask you to take me back." Beryl said, in a voice that had just the right touch of remorse, hesitance, longing, and hope.

It also held quite a bit of power within it too, the kind that hypnotises the person who hears it.

Darien's eyes became slighlty unfocussed and he seemed unable to form words. Beryl took the opportunity to lean in close to him and try for a kiss. 

All she needed was one short kiss, one short moment for him to breath in Empress Metallica's dark essence and he'd be hers completely.

She had no way of knowing that all the feelings he had for her back then had become weakened now. He no longer knew if they were true feelings of love, or something else entirely. Had he still been sure of those feelings her spell over him would have been stronger, but he was no longer sure. Thus her spell was weakened, making him confused. Part of him screamed not to kiss her, and he managed to keep himself from bending down to meet her halfway, but he didn't have the strength or control to move away from her.

In this moment of confusion and panic, his mind only showed him one image.

Serena's light blue eyes as they stared deep into his own.

~*~

When Beryl had grabbed the roses stem and the thorn had cut into her skin, not only had the roses memories gone through her mind, but what the rose was seeing at that moment went through Serena's mind as well.

The flower also channeled Beryl's feelings at the moment to Serena and she knew that Darien was in danger!

"Darien!" She cried as she grabbed the white sheet.

She wrapped it around her lower half as she transformed from a fish tail to legs, for she didn't have time to put on the shorts that Rei had brought.

"Serena, what's wrong?" The others all shouted at once.

Serena didn't answer. She just grabbed the nearest hard object on the ground beside her, and ran/slid through the water to the door of the apartment.

The others quickly followed her out the door, water flooding the hallway.

They noticed an old lady standing outside the door just down the hall from them, staring at them in shock, but they didn't have time to say anything to her.

The old lady watched as the five wet, and one half-naked only covered by a sheet, girls ran down to the end of the hall and up the stairs leading to the roof.

She noted to herself that that was Darien's apartment they had just come out of and that he had also just left to go to the roof a couple minutes earlier with another girl.

"Darien Chiba, I never took you for that kind of man!" She muttered to herself as she locked her door and wobbled to the elevator, ignoring all the water around her.

~*~

One more inch, just one more inch and Darien was hers for eternity!

//WACK// Something hard hit Beryl upside the head, and it was hard enough to break her concentration, releasing Darien from her grip.

He instantly pushed her away and stepped back, shaking his head and trying to figure out what was going on.

"Serena, why'd you throw my shoe at Beryl's head?" Rei asked slowly, and thinking that that was exactly what she wanted to do a while ago.

"She was about to hurt him." Was Serena's soft reply as with a sad expression she stared at Beryl who was glaring back at her.

"I don't understand." Lita stated worriedly.

Darien focussed on Beryl.

"What did you just do to me?" He asked, hurt, confused and angry.

Beryl had had enough and decided not to hold back.

"All I did was draw upon your feelings for me to help me claim you as mine." She replied, her tone filled with evil seduction. "It's what you wished for wasn't it Darien?"

Darien stumbled back under the invisible pressure of her evil force, and mentally tried to fight back. He found that he felt less pressure when he held the picture of Serena in his mind.

He didn't notice that he had stumbled back into a wall of roses, or that those roses gently wrapped around him forming a barrier of thorns and petals between him and Beryl.

Beryl glowered at the wall of roses that now hid Darien from her view.

//WACK// Beryl was hit on the head with another shoe, this time a green one.

Everyone looked at Lita.

"I didn't like her tone." Was Lita's explanation, crossing her arms infront of her defiantly.

Beryl made a growling sound deep in her throat, and started radiating black energy waves. Her hair grew longer, her skin turned a dark shade of purple, her nails grew longer and her eyes glowed blood red.

Her outfit changed as well. From the purple blouse and red shorts she had worn to the long purple dress.

Her anger was so focussed on the girls that her grip on Darien desolved. He was able to peer through the wall of roses, and he did not like what he saw. He watched his ex-beloved with pain filled eyes.

"Who the heck are you?" Mina cried.

"I am Queen Beryl of the Negaverse." Beryl replied, raising her right hand. "AND YOU ARE DEAD!"

She screamed the last sentence as dark energy flew out of her palm in the shape of a ball and aimed straight for Serena.

Rei quickly pushed Serena into Lita. Lita grabbed Serena by the shoulders and pulled her away. Rei followed them as Ami and Mina leapt the other way.

The dark energy ball hit the door to the stairs. The door was blasted off its hinges, and in three pieces struck deep into the concrete that made the roof. It spewed sand into the air and cut some of the rose bushes into pieces making petals swirl everywhere.

"Sailor Scouts unite!" Rei cried flinging her hand into the air, readying herself to transform.

All the other girls followed her example, but Beryl would have none of it.

"I know who you are, and I will not allow you to bring to bear the power to fight me!" She cried as flung two dark energy balls at them.

One missed the girls and rammed into another rose bush ripping it to pieces.

Rei pushed Serena away from her to avoid the other one which hit the ground between them.

They landed hard upon the sand covered concrete as the ball exploded, once more spewing sand over them.

"Serena!" Lita said quietly as she helped Serena to her feet and wondering briefly how Serena had managed to keep hold of the sheet. "Listen, go through the roses around the roof, transform and then come back to the fight from behind Beryl. Okay?"

"Okay." Serena replied shakily.

"MERCURY STAR POWER MAKE-UP!" Ami cried across from them.

Beryl turned to glare at her, and Lita took the opportunity to gently, but urgently push Serena toward the roses that would cover her until she came back. They had grown that big and that quickly.

Serena gripped the sheet tightly as she ran, and vanished from view.

The other girls voices rang out to join Ami's in their transformation phrases.

Darien struggled to get free from the roses and join the fight, because he had seen Beryl's face when Serena had run. She had not missed it.

It took only a few seconds for the girls to transform, but it was those few precious seconds that Beryl took advantage of.

Beryl gathered dark energy into her hands and listened. The instant she heard Serena's voice cry her transformation phrase, Beryl knew where she was. She turned and threw the energy ball into the roses.

Stems broke, petals flew, voices yelled, and one voice above all the rest screamed.

The other Sailor Scouts and Darien watched with frozen hearts as half the rose garden burst apart, and the sillhoette of a young woman was flung into the air.

They felt a brief moment of relief when they realized that she was unhurt and fully transformed, but their hearts were stricken again when they realized that she would not land on the roof.

Five voices joined together, some screaming 'Serena' and some screaming 'Sailor Moon', to ring throughout the night sky.

Sailor Moon didn't know if she should scream again or not.

This felt just like she remembered it feeling, after speeding through the water, bursting through the surface, and flipping through the air. It felt great!

It took her one second to realize that she would not hit the water again. It would not be a soft landing this time.

That's when panic set in and she reached out, groping the air as it rushed by. Reaching out for a railing, a windowsill or anything that would stop her fall.

Her hands met nothing, and yet she could not scream.

She watched the star ridden dark blue sky race away from her outreaching white gloved hand. Her golden hair whipped around her, getting in her eyes more than once and making them water.

The sky and her hand became blurry and just as she passed the line of second floor windows she had the thought that she was going to die.

She didn't want to die like this! If she was going to die, she wanted to die in the arms of someone she loved! Someone who loved her!

One second later she landed in the arms of a friend.

"UGH!" He cried as she landed in his arms.

His knees gave way with the force of her landing and he collapsed to the sidewalk below him, her safely held in his arms.

She looked up into green eyes and smiled widely.

"Thank you so much Andrew!" She cried happily and hugged him briefly around the neck.

"No problem." He assured her with a strained voice that she did not notice.

She quickly stood up and helped him to his feet.

"If you're coming to see Darien, he's busy right now, and it's very dangerous for you to be here! Please, come back later!" She told him, before swiftly turning around, crouching down, and leaping to the first balcony.

Andrew brushed his blond bangs from his eyes as he watched her leap from one balcony to the next, going ever higher until she passed Darien's balcony and he determined that she was heading back to the roof.

Andrew had no idea how she knew his name, but he had been drawn to Darien's apartment by the unexplainable need to protect his friend, and he wasn't about to leave without making sure that he wasn't needed.

He started running to the entrance of the building.

Meanwhile, Sailor Moon had reached the last balcony and leapt for the roof.

She grabbed the side and was about to swing herself over when a terrible sickness overwelmed her and almost made her loose her grip.

She hung there precariously for a couple moments, trying hard not to let go and not to throw up.

She noticed then that the night sky had darkened, blotting out the stars. The wind was starting to blow hard and it stung her eyes. She smelled rain on the wind.

Sailor Moon breathed in several deep breaths and decided that Mercury could be wrong about the storm. The rain at least smelled normal, even if the wind was getting too violent for her liking.

The familiar smell of fresh rain water made her feel a little better and she was able to pull herself up over the edge of the roof.

Debris of rose bushes littered the small trail that the energy ball had made. The sand had patches where the concrete could be seen. The small pool had been overturned, the water had splashed onto the sand and roses, while the plastic part had been blown over the roof.

Sailor Moon saw the reason behind her feeling of sickness. Beryl had taken control of the remaining rose plants. Her control of them had turned them black, and she had used them to twist around the Sailor Scouts until they were caught in a thorny web from which they couldn't excape no matter how hard they struggled. Sailor Moon could see the many scratches all over their bodies and the small amounts of blood from the wounds.

Sailor Moon realized that Darien was no longer there, but Tuxedo Mask was and he too was caught in the trap of black roses.

Sailor Moon felt like crying again, but remembered the last words of the voice in her head. She sniffed back the tears and took off her tiara.

"MOON TIARA ACTION!" She yelled as she let fly her tiara like a golden frisbee of light.

Beryl was turning around to look at her when the tiara hit her in the back.

She screamed, but all it did to her was sink into her side. It did not make her disintegrate like it had the youmas.

Sailor Moon heard the cries of her friends, but was not focussed on their words. She just focussed on Beryl.

Beryl glared evily as she pulled the now lightless tiara from her side. She made to crush it in her hand, but Sailor Moon mentally called it back to her. In a flash of gold light it vanished from Beryl's hand and reappeared on Sailor Moon's forehead.

With a sigh, Sailor Moon lurched forward into a run toward Beryl.

Beryl called up another dark energy ball.

Just as she was about to throw it at Sailor Moon who was just a few steps away, there was a yell by the door to the stairs.

Andrew had made it to the roof and was aghast at what he saw.

"Andrew!" Sailor Moon yelled worriedly.

Beryl did not hesitate. The ball that was meant for Sailor Moon was quickly reaimed and fired at Andrew.

"NO!" Sailor Moon screamed as the ball hit Andrew and he was quickly engulfed in a black energy.

"ANDREW!" Tuxedo Mask cried, and a sudden gold light erupted from him and sped toward the dark cloud of energy.

It pierced the energy like soft butter and found Andrew in the heart of it. It surrounded Andrew and made the dark energy disappear. It also changed Andrew's clothes from his normal khaki pants and white shirt, to armor that shoned like green dragon scales. A shining white sword appeared in his hand and when the gold light faded and he opened his eyes he was a changed man. Still Andrew, but partly someone knew.

The little voice in Sailor Moon's head made one tiny statement about him.

_'The only general still loyal to Prince Endymion.'_

Andrew looked directly at her.

"Take care of Beryl Sailor Moon!" He shouted to her confidently. "I will free the others."

She nodded with new resolve.

She turned back to Beryl and Beryl immediately caused the roses on the left of her that were not holding the others to shoot out and try to wrap around Sailor Moon's arms and boots as she ran toward Beryl.

But Sailor Moon was too fast. She dove, dodged, leapt and slipped her way around them, just like she would have had she been her Mermaid self. Yes, some scrapped her face, arms, and legs, but she ignored them because she was so focussed on Beryl.

She made it to Beryl and she could see the fear in Beryl's red eyes as she grabbed her by the shoulders.

Then Beryl erupted in dark energy that tried to blast Sailor Moon away from her. Sailor Moon was engulfed in gold silver light in answer to the dark energy. It pushed back and after a moment of clashing, Sailor Moon's light won.

It pushed hard against Beryl's wall of dark energy and it gave way, letting Sailor Moon's light wrap around the frightened Beryl.

The force of the light and the sudden collapse of Beryl's wall made them stumble back into the black roses.

Beryl and Sailor Moon cried out as the thorns dug deep into them, but at the same time the gold and silver light turned the roses back to their normal passionate red.

Then Beryl and Sailor Moon lost their sight as memories flooded into their minds again.

This time the memories were neither Beryl's nor Sailor Moon's.

They were someone else's, and that someone finally had her chance to be heard.


	16. Memories of a Mother Long Lost

Tear Pearls

By LadyPrin

Disclaimer Applies.

Thanks to Moon Pincess, James Birdsong, Anony, Jessicam242, Orange Apples, Bakagirl123, Uranusfan1, Katblue, Markus777, Scoliosisr2d2, and to any I may have missed!

Sorry for being late, on to the story.

Chapter Sixteen ~*~ Memories of a Mother Long Lost ~*~

Books.

They surrounded her on wooden shelves that were stained a deep rich brown. The color reminded her of caramel and chocolate mixed together, but the smell reminded her of a forest.

One day she'd like to go out to a forest and just sit and read for a whole afternoon, but for now this was as close as she could get.

She reached a pale hand up and pulled a thick book with a red and white checkered cover off of a shelf and then as briskly as she could, walked back to her chair that sat by a small round wooden table.

She gave a sigh as she lowered herself into it.

She loved the library, especially this one that belonged to the Hitokage University. They had the most books in the catagory that she loved and all for free.

But for the time being, her time of walking around and losing herself among the knowledge here was limited.

A spasm went through her suddenly and the heavy book slipped from her hand.

It fell to the carpeted floor with a muffled thump that still seemed loud within the quiteness of the large room.

The spasm passed after a second and she took in a couple deep breaths like her doctor had told her to do.

She then noticed the book was on the floor and heaved a long sigh.

It was times like this that she disliked the most about being pregnant.

She knew better than to try to stand up just after a spasm, so she used one hand to hold onto the back of the chair and tried to reach down around her bulging stomache to grasp the book which was lying face down.

It was straining on her and someone must have noticed.

A muscular hand reached down and gently picked up the book.

"You shouldn't do that, you know. Puts unnecessary strain on both you and the baby." A gentle but strong voice spoke quietly to her.

As she leaned back in the chair she looked up at the man and recognized him immediately.

He had short brown hair, and deep brown eyes that were framed by thin black rimmed glasses. He wore a dark gray suit, white shirt, and black and white checkered tie. On his lips was an amused gentle smile as he sat the book softly back on the table.

"I know, I just like doing things myself if I can." She stated, softly, hoping she wasn't being rude.

"Something you must understand then, is that you can't do things like this by yourself if you want to insure a healthy mother and child." He stated just as softly and she knew he wasn't being rude, just stating the truth.

She nodded jerkily and glanced down at the book on the table.

"I know, the independent find that hard to learn." He stated knowingly and she glanced up at him with an sheepish amused smile.

"Thank you, by the way." She said as she turned the book around to her.

"You're welcome, Ma'm." He replied, and then hesitantly added. "If I'm not intruding, may I ask to join you?"

"You may certaintly join me, Sir." She answered with a smile and wave of the hand at the second empty wooden chair beside her.

"Thank you." He sat down and she couldn't help noticing how elegantly he did so.

Once seated he spoke again.

"Seeing as independent as you are, I take it your here by yourself?" He more stated than asked.

"I got you wrong there!" She replied with a small triumphent smile. "One of my sisters dropped me off, and she'll pick me back up soon."

"Glad to hear it." He replied with a matching smile. "I was afraid that if you didn't have your husband or someone to take you home, that I was going to have to skip my next class and take you myself."

"You don't have to worry about missing class then." She said with a smile. "My husband's out of the picture, but I stilll have my two sisters."

He looked puzzeled.

"I'm sorry." He apoligized, and then continued hesitantly. "I didn't realized he was, dead."

"Oh, he's not dead." She replied with half a smile."I said out of the picture, there is a difference. And don't worry, whatever pain and grief I may have had my sisters kicked out of me already."

"Ah." He still looked puzzeled and she could tell he wanted to ask the question, but she also felt that he was too much the gentlemen to do it. "I'm glad I didn't upset you then."

She smiled a half smile, for this was not the first time she'd spoken the answer. It's just the first time she volunteered it to a stranger.

"The reason why he's no longer here is because he gave me an ultimatum. Him or the baby, I chose the baby." She stated the sentence in such a way that her tone dared him to tell her she had made the wrong choice.

He didn't. Instead he nodded no longer looking puzzeled now that he understood.

"Anyone who would give their wife an ultimatum like that, does't deserve to keep her." He agreed, and she smiled a full smile.

"I'm liking you already." She replied teasingly, but she really did mean it. 

There was something about him that she took an instant liking too.

Abruptly he looked startled.

"Oh, exuse me, my manners are lacking. My name is Kenji Tsukino, I work here as a Professor in Marine Biology." He introduced himself.

"I know." She admitted with a smile. "I thought about taking your class at the start of the semester, so I sat in on one of your classes to get a feel for it."

"I hope I wasn't too boring, because I haven't seen you in the classes since then." Kenji replied with a smile.

"Oh, no. You weren't boring at all," She assured him. "I just didn't find what I was looking for in the class."

"Hmm." Kenji murmered, resting his elbows on the table and elegently locking his fingers together. "Maybe I can still help. What were you looking for specifically?"

"I thought if I understood the sea creatures better, I'd know how to cook them better." She admitted with a shrug. "But the class that I sat in for was mostly about plants or creatures that weren't edible."

"Some of them were "edible", they just aren't "catchable"." Kenji informed her with a smile and she giggled. "And some of the plants I mentioned go well with most of the fish that are edible and catchable."

He stared unseeingly at the book on the table as he thought silently for a few moments.

She let him think in peace, and studied him carefully.

The library was split into two levels, the lower portion where they sat, and a half balcony with a railing that ran all the way around the wall at what could be called the second floor level. What would have been the third floor level, had no floor, nor a balcony. Instead it was all windows, big windows that let in plenty of natural light for the readers below to read by.

At the moment it was letting in golden rays of light and she watched as the beams sparkled off his glasses, and sank into his hair.

She was enjoying herself and a half smile showed on her face when he next looked up and focused on her.

He smiled in response.

"I'm sorry, I sometimes sink into my thoughts a bit too far." He apoligized, but she didn't mind.

She smiled wider and waved her hand in a small gesture of dismisal at his apoligy.

"What were you thinking about?" She asked curiously.

"I was trying to come up with a few recipise for you, but I'm going to have write them down to make sure I have the ingrediants in order. If they're not cooked right they come out aweful tasting, sometimes deadly." He explained, and she nodded in understanding.

"Like Blow Fish. I've seen the news articles about that." She explained.

He smiled, and then glanced at his wristwatch on his left hand that she hadn't noticed he wore. It was gold and shined so brightly in the sun, she was astounded that she hadn't noticed it before.

"I'm due for my next class." He explained. "Tell you what, how about you come sit in on one of my classes tomorrow? Now that you've brought my attention to the fact that there are questions I'm currently not answering to a satisfactory level, I plan on addressing those questions tomorrow. After the class, I'll give you some recipese to take home and try. All of them will be baby friendly of course, and some will even be baby helpful."

"And you know I can use all the help I can get." She said teasingly with a smile.

"And this is a form I think you'll accept." He shot back at her with a smile of his own.

Her smile widen.

"Alright then, if all goes well, I'll see you in one of your afternoon classes." She assured him.

"Which brings up a question." He warned. "When's the little one due?"

"Within the next three weeks." She replied. "And I have no idea whether it's a boy or a girl. I want to be surprised."

"A woman who likes surprises." He stated as he stood up from his chair.

"Of the good kind." She amended.

He smiled as he half bowed to her.

"I must take my leave now, but until we meet again I wish you smooth sailing." He said and his smiled widened as hers widened. "I'm a water expert, I can say stuff like that."

He turned to walk away, and still smiling she opened the front cover of the book.

"Oh, and one more thing."

She looked up as he turned back to her.

"What's your name?" He asked.

As she flipped a wavy strand of dark blue hair over her shoulder she replied.

"My name is Ikuko Tenoh."

"Thank you Miss Tenoh, I'll be seeing you." He replied as he turned and walked away, a smile still on his lips.

She was still smiling too as she looked down at the first page of the cookbook in her hands.

~*~*~

_'I hope I'm not too late!' _She thought as she almost ran past the door to Kenji's classroom.

Even though she ran the risk of running late, she took a few moments to make sure she looked presentable.

Why she had gone through the hassle of putting on make up for the first time since she was pregnant, she wasn't quite sure.

She gently and as quietly as she could opened the door and was relieved to find the last few students just taking thier seats. And there was two seats left at the back of the room.

She slipped through the door and tried to shut it quietly so as not to draw attention to herself. It did shut quietly, but she was still noticed.

"Miss Tenoh, welcome!" Kenji greeted her with a warm smile.

The whole classroom turned to her and greeted her just as warmly. 

She smiled and nodded in acknowledgment and went to pick her seat in the back.

"Now that our special guest has arrived, let's begin!" Kenji announced energetically.

~*~*~

"Okay, I think we have all the ingrediants." Kenji announced proudly, surveying them on the table like he was counting precious treasures.

She smiled as looked at them too, then glanced at him.

"Where'd you find half this stuff?" She asked with curiousity. "I've never seen this for example."

She pointed a finger at a fish that was laying on its side on a cutting board. It was still wet and still alive, having just been brought out of the bucket of salt water.

It was a big flat fish whose scales were a dull gold color, and it's fins were a transparent white.

"I call that a Piren." Kenji informed her.

"That's a weird name. Why do you call it that?" She asked, looking at him while her finger was still hovering just inches above it.

"Well." He smiled a crooked smile and moved her hand higher. "It looks beautiful, for a fish, but get close to it and . . ."

He quickly waved his hand in front of the fish and it immediately lashed out with four or five rows of little needle sharp teeth that glinted dangerously.

"It's a cross between a Piranha and a Siren." Kenji explained, as he reached for the chopping knife.

"I understand." She replied, taking a small step away from her kitchen counter.

"Where you going?" Kenji asked teasingly as he pulled the cutting board over to himself. "You need to learn to cut this thing." 

"Right." She agreed a tiny bit scarcastically, but she stepped back up to the counter and watched him over his shoulder. "

"You know, this is probably as close to a Siren as one can get." She mused.

"No." Kenji replied seriously with a shake of his head. "Sail to the right spot and you can get closer. Whether you survive is a different matter."

She felt how serious he was and she found that she believed him.

A small shudder ran through her as the knife came down and hit the cutting board and she drew closer to him.

He smiled a reassuring smile at her and proceeded to instruct her on how to skin the fish.

She figured he probably didn't know how calming his smile was to her.

~*~*~

"Listen Ikuko, I'm not against you being happy, but I don't want you getting hurt again." A sandy haired woman told her as she sat on the cream colored comforter of Ikuko's bed.

"I know, but somehow I can promise you that he won't hurt me like Daimian did." Ikuko replied with an amount of confidence that she hadn't had since Daimian Black had left her over nine months ago.

"You've only known him for a week and a half!" Her sister exclaimed. "What is it about him that makes you love him so much?"

Ikuko paused in the brushing of her hair and stared at her reflection in the full length mirror.

"I'm not sure, a whole bunch of things I guess." She replied slowly. "He's gentle, he's kind, he's elegant, he has a good sense of humor, he's knowledgeable about the ocean."

"I thought you hated the ocean?" Her sister inturrupted. "You just got through saying a month ago how you'd love to go live deep in a forest somewhere."

"I didn't hate the ocean, I was just tired of it." Ikuko amended. "We lived by it for most of our childhood, and I had just grown tired of it. He's woken my interest in it again! He's shown me creatures I never knew existed, some of them I don't think even the scientists know about. He smells like the ocean, and when I'm around him I feel secure." 

"Thinking about this from a mother's point of view, do you think he'd make a good father to the baby?" Her sister asked.

"I've thought about that." Ikuko admitted slowly. "And yes, I think he will if he decides he wants to go that far."

"If he decides wants to go that far?" Her sister qouted slowly.

"It's not like he's proposed yet." Ikuko replied with a slightly annoyed tone. "It's too darn soon for that no matter how we feel, but I'm finding myself hoping for that eventually."

Her sister sighed and with a shake of her head she stood up.

"Alright, I'm your big sister, I must support you in any endeavour you decide to take. But if this guy ends up leaving you too, I reserve the right to beat him up."

Ikuko looked over at her with a serious expression on her face.

"I'll acknowledge it if that time comes." She agreed.

Her sister studied her face for a moment. 

"You're that sure of him?" She asked softly, because she had meant it when she had said she'd beat him up.

"I am." Ikuko replied, staring her straight in the eyes.

Her sister nodded in acceptance and then smiled widely.

"Alright Ikuko, let's get you all prettied up before he comes to get you. Do you want to wear that pretty necklace he gave you yesterday, the one with the sapphires in it?" She asked as she walked toward Ikuko's dresser.

"Yes!" Ikuko answered happily.

Her sister came over to attatch the necklace around her neck and Ikuko hugged her arm.

"Thank you Amora. Thank you!"

~*~*~

"I haven't been on a boat in years!" She laughed as she leaned on the railing a big smile on her lips.

"The salty wind air is doing you good!" Kenji commented with a smile as he came to stand beside her. "You look a bit healthier."

She smiled.

"And I feel younger too." She admitted. "I don't remember it feeling this good!"

"I'm scheming on ways to get you in the water, but I'll have to hold off on them until after the baby is born." He admitted with a mischievous grin.

"Oh, you--" Her teasing comeback was cut off when the wind blew up suddenly and she got a mouthful of hair.

She laughed as she went to throw her hair back over her shoulder, but gasped when her hair caught on her beautiful silver and sapphire necklace, ripping it off her neck.

She lunged for it as it flew over the railing toward the water, but Kenji wrapped his arms around her to keep her from going over the railing.

They both watched as the necklace hit the water and disappeared from their view.

"I'm so sorry!" She cried looking scared.

Kenji laughed at her expression.

"It's okay, calm down." He spoke softly and smiled, and she was immediately soothed. "It's just a necklace, it can be replaced. I don't mind and you shouldn't either. Be thankful with me that you and the baby aren't hurt. You two can't be replaced."

She smiled and nodded in agreement. She knew she'd finally found the one for her.

"Besides." Kenji continued, glancing over the side and then back at her. "I betcha' I can find that exact one when I go swimming tomorrow." 

"I doubt it, we're far from shore." She replied.

Kenji smiled at her.

"But I now these waters better than any other human." He assured her.

"Come and sit down, rest." He said as he gently took her arm and lead her toward a chair that was nailed to the deck near the cabin.

"You're sweet." Ikuko complimented as she sat down.

"So are you, but you're much sweeter than I." He whispered in her ear and kissed her softly on the cheek. "And I'm sure the baby will be twice as sweet."

He ducked into the cabin to start the boat again and she was left blushing and smiling in her chair.

~*~*~

"Ikuko, please calm down." Her sister with the sea foam green hair pleaded. "I'm sure he's okay!"

"But Michelle, he went swimming three days ago! The storm hit us that same day! He hasn't come back in three days! What if he got struck by lightning? What if the water got so turbulent he couldn't make it back to shore and drowned? I need to know!" Ikuko cried, as she flung the phone book to the floor.

"And we will find out." Michelle assured her, taking her by the shoulders to hold her still. "Amora went out to search the beach and talk to the coastguards. We will do everything we can to find him and make sure he's okay, but you have to calm down!"

Ikuko stood there and rocked back and forth, eyes closed, holding back sobs. She wasn't able to hold back her tears though and they slipped out from under her closed eyelids.

"Please sit down, Ikuko. You know he wouldn't want you to stress yourself." Michelle told her softly, but firmly.

After a moment she stopped rocking, and nodded, eyes still closed.

"Yes. Yes, he wouldn't want me stress out. It's bad for the baby's health." She agreed and opened her eyes long enough to find herself a seat on the sofa.

Just then the door to the outside opened and someone stepped into the entrance hall.

"Amora?" Michelle called.

"Yes, it's me." Amora called back as she stepped into the living room, rain still dripping off her raincoat from the storm that had been raging for three straight days.

"Did you find-?" Michelle didn't finish the question, but Amora understood.

She shook her head gravely, water flying from her bangs.

Ikuko let out a wail that broke their hearts.

Her wail was cut short though by a gasp of pain as a spasm went through her, and she felt something besides her heart breaking inside her.

"My water just broke!" She cried through her sobs as she doubled over. "The baby is coming!"

~*~*~

Something was wrong.

She knew something was wrong, she felt it, but she didn't know what.

She heard people talking around her, but the words didn't make sense.

"Don't worry, Ikuko! We're right here!"

"I'm sorry Miss's, but you can't go beyond this point!"

"We'll be waiting for you two Ikuko!"

"Yes, fight hard!"

Fight hard? Agains't what? What was she doing anyway?

"It's stuck! We're going to have to do a C-section."

C-section?

"The baby's stuck in the birth canel. She's losing a lot of blood, so I think something tore. Scalpel!"

My baby!

She suddenly remembered what was happening.

Her baby was coming!

"I see it!"

She didn't recognize these voices, they must be the doctors and nurses. 

That big bright light above her must be from the hospital equipment.

Where was Kenji?

Why didn't she hear Kenji?

She suddenly remembered Amora coming home and shaking her head to the unfinished question.

He's dead, isn't he?

Her heart wouldn't accept any other explanation.

"There's the head!"

"We need to get it out quick! She's lost too much blood!"

"Get some blood bags in here stat!"

I'll live.

I have to live.

For my baby.

"It's a boy!"

For my baby boy.

"Doctor!"

Even through her daze she heard the panic in the woman's voice.

She also noticed the light above her growing dim.

"I know!"

I have to live for my baby boy!

I have to! 

The darkness started to recede, and the light grew slightly brighter.

"He's still not breathing!"

Not breathing?

And not crying.

Why wasn't her baby breathing and crying?

"We've lost him."

"Stillborn. Time of death, 6:42pm."

Lost him?

Stillborn. . .

NO!

She couldn't lose him too!!!

"Get those blood bags in here now!

No, leave me!

Save my baby!

"Her heart rate went up! It's erratic."

"Work faster people."

They're not saving my baby. 

They're not even trying.

My baby boy is gone.

Why should I even try to stay?

The darkness was taking over the light again.

Faster than before.

I'm sorry Amora, Michelle, I don't want to stay anymore.

I'm going where Kenji and my baby boy is.

The light was just a pin prick now.

She heard a soft cry and was encouraged to move forward in the darkness.

She thought she was heading toward her baby.

She didn't realize she was leaving him behind in the room she had just left.

~*~*~

Where are they?

I thought loved ones were reunited in death. . .

_Hmm, not entirely gone are you?_

Who are you?

_My name is Queen Beryl, and I'm taking over your body. _

I'm still in my body?

_Yes, holding on by a thread. Feel free to leave anytime. _

She didn't do it, but the eyes of her body opened.

She didn't tell it to, but her body sat up.

Her hand reached out and pulled the white sheet further up to cover her naked body again.

Her legs swung over the side of the metal table and it stood up.

It turned around and glanced down at her reflection.

She was pale and purplish.

Sickly looking.

The look of a dead person.

As she watched through eyes that were no longer her own, her hair turned from blue to reddish-brown, and grew slightly longer.

Her skin remained pale, but not as sickish looking. Her ears turned pointed, then turned back to normal. Her eyes flashed from blue to red and then settled at brown.

Her body let go of the sheet and as it fell silently to the floor it revealed a dark purple dress.

_If you're going to stay then go to sleep. I have work to do, and I don't want to be disturbed._

The darkness closed in upon her again only this time it did not bring numbness.

It brought images that tortured her just like nightmares.

~*~*~

She had no idea how long she'd been 'sleeping'.

She just knew she wanted to stop!

So when she saw the small spark of gold light she followed it.

She was looking through her eyes again, but they were still not her own.

She was looking at a man with black hair and deep blue eyes. He was wearing a dark green jacket and black turtle neck sweater.

As he looked at her, she could tell he was enamored with whoever her body had become.

Her body was laughing, and her eyes glanced down at her nearly empty plate.

Her hair was still brown, her eyes were still brown, that Queen Beryl as she called herself was still in control.

_And I shall remain so! Get out!_

She felt the darkness pushing at her, but she retreated into a back corner of her mind and shrunk down to an unintimidating size.

Beryl decided to ignore her, but Ikuko could still catch glimpses of what was going on outside her body through her eyes, though the images were as small as a postage stamp.

She felt something from this man.

A kind warmth that gave her the strength to resist those nightmares.

And also, a small, oh so very small, wish to live again.

But she was too scared to act on it.

She decided to wait.

For now.

~*~*~

With each day her body spent in the presence of the man Beryl called Darien, her inner strength returned more and more.

The time her body spent away from Darien, the more she learned of things she never thought could be.

She learned of monsters that obeyed Beryl's every command.

She learned of Generals who oversaw the monsters who also obeyed Beryl's every command.

She learned that Beryl herself obeyed the command of only one, whose name was Mettalica and she seemed to be made of nothing but dark evil power.

She learned that Beryl and her Generals were searching for something called the Imperium Silver Crystal that would supposedly make Mettalica invincible, which scared Ikuko severly.

She learned that they had two leads on it.

Beryl thought that Darien was a 'Golden Prince' and that he might have it. Mettalica had set her the task of getting it if he did.

Meanwhile Mettalica had Beryl set her Generals to the task of searching for a . . . Merman?

Something about tracing the last bit of power from the Silver Queen to him.

For some reason when they started talking about a Merman, an image of Kenji flashed through her thoughts.

The thought of him brought more comfort than pain.

She also learned of magical warrior girls who fought against Beryl's Generals and monsters, and they were doing a good job of it.

She found herself accumulating all this knowledge, but she didn't have anything she could do with it.

So she remained in her dark corner, watching through the small opening in Beryl's mind.

She was watching so intently she noticed when Beryl glanced closer at a poster that was taped to a newspaper stand that she was just walking by.

A picture of what Ikuko used to look like was in the middle of the poster and messy handwriting wrote these words around it in pencil:

"Have you seen this woman? Her name's Ikuko Tenoh. She's been missing for awhile. If you know where she is please return her to me. If you don't know where my mother is, but have seen her, please contact me or one of my aunts at--"

A phone number and home address was listed below.

'My mother' . . .

Ikuko realized that at that moment that her little baby boy had lived!

She now realized why she remained in this wretched body still.

_You've been dead for over eleven years, yet this boy is still searching for you. He should just give up, because you no longer exist. _

But Ikuko knew that she still did exist.

She didn't have control anymore, but she did exist if nothing else.

I do exist, she whispered to herself.

~*~*~

_"Did you find that Merman?" _She heard Beryl speak to the Generals.

"Yes we did, my lady." One of them replied, a man. "We've tortured him all day, but he has yet to answer our questions."

_"Torture him more tomorrow. Do not give up." _Beryl replied. _"But for now, I have something else for you do to."_

Ikuko quit listening.

She had a suspicion, but didn't know how to confirm it.

She used the time that Beryl talked with her Generals to think.

When the Generals left, she had an idea, though she didn't think of it as a good one.

Beryl! BERYL!

_What do you want now?_

I want to see this Merman!

_No. I have no reason to go see the wretched creature and I certaintly won't go see it just because you want me to._

I'll keep shouting and pushing at you until you do! I won't take no for an answer! You're stuck with me, YOU HEAR!!!

Beryl growled and tried to make her shut up by using her dark powers, but all that time in Darien's presence had made her able to fight back and she fought hard, just like her sisters had told her to!

It took five hours of shouting and nagging before she consented.

She was horrified by the conditon he was in, but was ecstatic and relieved to know it was Kenji! He was alive!

But he was drying out!

Before Ikuko could shout it to her, Beryl doused him with water and turned to walk away.

Ikuko sighed in relief and went back to her corner.

She heard Kenji speak just before Beryl teleported away.

"Thank you." He said in a hoarse voice, and she felt grief at all he had to endure.

_"Do not thank me just yet, fishboy." _Beryl told him in a toneless voice._ "You shall face more pain tomorrow that will last until we have what we want."_

Ikuko knew that Beryl spoke the truth, but she resolved to stop it.

~*~*~

Her body was in Darien's presence again and just like always her strength was growing.

Then Beryl tried to pick the rose and memories and feelings flooded through both their minds.

While Beryl had her own thoughts Ikuko was quietly thinking her own.

If Beryl could just prick herself again at the same time as a Sailor Scout, maybe Ikuko could take over long enough to get the message across!

It gave her hope, but throughout the battle it didn't look likely.

Then she felt Beryl's fear and Ikuko took a closer look at the postage sized window to the outside.

Sailor Moon had a hold of Beryl's shoulders.

Beryl tried to push her off with a blast of dark energy, but it didn't work.

Sailor Moon had a powerful light power of her own and she wielded it well.

It won the fight with Beryl's dark power and then wrapped around Beryl fully.

Ikuko felt so much stronger!

The small view to the outside was growing. She felt like she was rushing toward it, and she welcomed the light.

The collapse of Beryl's wall of dark power made them stumble back into the roses behind them.

Beryl and Sailor Moon cried out as the thorns dug into them both and Beryl tried to sieze the power still left in the roses, but Sailor Moon's light turned them back to true roses.

And Ikuko seized upon her chance to be heard.

She sent all the precious memories of Kenji and her baby through Beryl and into Sailor Moon, willing her to understand who she was.

She also sent all the important memories of her time in the darkness, because Sailor Moon needed to understand that she and her friends faced a much greater danger.

But most of all, when all these memories had been seen by them both, she shouted this to Sailor Moon because she needed it to be true.

I DO EXIST!


	17. The Rain, It Comes

Tear Pearls

By LadyPrin

Disclaimer applies.

Thanks to KageNoNeko, bakagirl123, Richforce, Lady Tristana Rogue, scoliosisr2d2, Valkyrie Celes, uranusfan1, katblue, Kariangelgrl (glad to see you on again! ^-^) and to all those who faved, but never reviewed!

I also want to give a big thanks to MoonMouze (or Romantic Haberdashery if you changed your name to that) for taking the time to go through all 16 chapters and let me know about all the misspellings, sentences that made no sense, and all the other mistakes I had made. I went through and corrected them all, and I hope to keep them at a minimum from now on. In answer to your questions about some of the chapters:  
I didn't mean for a few of them to be in bold font. When I write, it sometimes helps me when I use a different font than the last chapter. Back when I started posting my writings on fanfiction it would take my whole chapter back to a default font setting and thus I didn't have to go through and change it myself. I hadn't realized it stopped doing that.  
As to the "h e double toothpicks" thing, yes I had meant for it to be that. I went back and made the h and the e as capitals. Where I'm from it's the polite version of saying 'hell'.

And as a side note: I'm sorry for being REALLY late with this chapter. Everything I wrote just didn't seem up to standard and it felt like I was writing myself into a corner, but I think I'm past that now and should start writing and posting more.

Chapter Seventeen ~*~The Rain, It Comes ~*~

All of Ikuko's precious memories flooded through her mind in a matter of seconds.

Sailor Moon found herself wondering how so much of a life could be condensed so much and so quickly.

Then her sight returned.

She still had a hold of Beryl's shoulders. Because of the force at which Sailor Moon had collided with Beryl they should've been on the ground, but instead the roses were holding them up.

The thorns were digging into Beryl's back and drawing blood that dripped down to stain her dress, but Sailor Moon couldn't see that. She could only see what was in front of her. What she saw made her let go of Beryl's shoulders and take a step back.

Beryl was changing.

Her hair which was reddish-brown was now trying to turn blue. Her eyes that used to be blood red were now changing to dark hazel. Her skin that had been a sickening purple battled to become a healthy cream again. The purple dress she wore was now becoming hazy as if it was about to disappear.

Her facial features moved in such a way, it seemed they didn't know which expression to hold. The expression of pure hatred or the expression of painful determination.

Andrew had managed to free the others from the dark roses before Sailor Moon had freed the light within her. When Sailor Moon had turned that group of roses back to normal the rest of the roses followed.

The other Sailor Scouts, plus Tuxedo Mask and Andrew stared at the transformation taking place, wondering what Sailor Moon had done to make it happen.

Sailor Moon realized what was happening and in encouragement cried out a name.

"Ikuko!"

Half of Beryl's mouth was curled into a snarl, but the other half upon hearing her name quickly flashed in a smile.

Sailor Moon became like a little child, jumping up and down in place, clapping her gloved hands together and shouting encouraging words to help Ikuko battle Beryl. Sailor Moon had given Ikuko the strength needed to fight, now it was all up to Ikuko.

The others didn't have a clue what was happening, but that didn't stop them from supporting her.

"Yes, Miss Ikuko, you can do it!" Mercury was the first to pipe up and add her own encouragement to Sailor Moon's.

The others looked at her strangely for a moment and then joined in with words of their own.

Almost all the physical signs of Beryl had vanished, just a little more time and Ikuko would be ba--.

Something ripped through what was left of the roses destroying them completely. Like a dark whip it lashed out and snapped against Sailor Moon and Ikuko sending them sprawling.

Ikuko's concentration on her internal battle faltered because the pain in her side was so immense.

Beryl regained control and as her appearance started to change back she took in the situation.

Just a few feet from her lay Sailor Moon, whimpering, but wondrously not crying. Laying just off to her side was the rest of the Sailor brats, Tuxedo Mask and Andrew.

Beryl ignored the pain in her side which gave Ikuko back some of her concentration. Beryl's appearence halted its progress and Ikuko battled to take over again.

Beryl still had control over the body. Using it, she looked up and over to see where the dark whip had come from.

Floating about two feet off the roof, arms folded across his chest, clad in a simple blue uniform with gold trim, was a man. It looked like he was looking at her, but she couldn't tell because his dark brown bangs hid his eyes in shadow.

But Beryl knew him well.

"Nephrite." She whispered in a half hiss, pain cutting through her concentration.

"Ah, Queen Beryl. It hurts to see you reduced to this." General Nephrite spoke with a pained tone that just dripped with mockery.

"What are you doing here?" Beryl got out through gritted teeth.

"Empress Metallica sent me. It seems she's lost all faith in you, and suspected something like this would befall you. She sent me here to deal with it if it did." He replied with a smug smile.

"Lost all faith. . . in me?" Beryl repeated through sharp intakes of breath.

"Yes." Nephrite confirmed, his smile widening. "Should this happen, Empress Metallica has kindly allowed me to. . . dispose of the problem. Meaning, you."

He started to gather the dark whip in his hand.

"Goodbye, my lady." He said, bearing his teeth in a cold evil grin.

Having her Empress give up on her and allowing her to die at the hands of one of her own generals, Beryl couldn't take it anymore. She gave up her hold on Ikuko.

The change happened in a flash and it was Ikuko looking up at Nephrite with terror in her eyes.

"No!" Sailor Moon cried, struggling to get to her feet.

Not knowing why he did it, but knowing he had to try, Tuxedo Mask bolted to his feet and leapt toward Ikuko.

He made it to her side just as Nephrite lashed out. He threw his cape over Ikuko and bright flash of gold erupted from him again.

The dark whip hit the golden barrier with a loud crack that echoed through the night. However, the dark whip did no damage for the golden barrier protected Tuxedo Mask and Ikuko.

Everyone let out sighs of relief.

Nephrite's face twisted in hatred and he raised his whip for another go, but then he cried out in pain as eight pairs of claws sank deep into his back.

Tuxedo Mask turned slightly so he could look at him. Ikuko raised her head just over his cape so she could see too. Andrew and the Sailor Scouts all raised their heads and stared at Nephrite as he dropped his whip and started thrashing around in midair trying to free himself.

Then a voice called out above the ripping of his clothes and the screams of his pain.

"Girls, combine your powers!"

Sailor Mercury, Mars, Venus and Jupiter all recognized the voice and nodded in understanding.

"Huh?" Sailor Moon asked, looking over at the others.

Venus was there at her elbow to help her stand.

"We'll combine our powers and throw it all at him, okay?" Venus explained, and Sailor Moon nodded her understanding of that.

Sailor Moon reached for her tiara and the girls started their attack phrases, but Nephrite wasn't going to stay to be defeated.

The claws still clinging to his bloody stinging back, he used his powers to open a dark portal for his escape.

Just as Nephrite leaped for the portal the two creatures to whom the claws belonged leapt off and away from him as the girls threw their attacks together.

Their powers merged with Sailor Moon's tiara and hit Nephrite in the back just as he passed into the portal.

He screamed and with a flash the portal collapsed upon him, silencing his scream forever.

Everyone let out another sigh of relief, just as the two creatures hit the roof.

"Luna! Artemis!" The girls cried out as they got a good look at them.

Luna curled her black tail around her and elegantly sat down, her red eyes surveying the group. As she smiled at them the crescent moon on her forehead gleamed dully.

Artemis on the other hand, shook his white fur and ran to Venus. His blue eyes happy and his crescent moon gleamed dully as well.

Venus knelt and scooped Artemis up as all four girls crowded around them.

"It's so good to see you two!" Venus said cheerfully.

"Yes, it's been months! Where have you been?" Mars asked.

"What have you found out?" Mercury asked excitedly.

"You two fought great against that guy!" Jupiter exclaimed.

Two seconds later. . .

"Ewww! Artemis!" Venus exclaimed holding him away from her at arms length. "What have you been into?"

"Yeah, Arty, you stink!" Jupiter added, as the other two added their own comments.

"Well, Artemis, you could wash off the filth, but it seems the smell remains." Luna teased him with a giggle.

"Yeah, yeah, I should've used soap." Artemis replied, rolling his eyes.

While the girls were busy talking to Artemis, Tuxedo Mask was just relaxing. He lowered his cape from it's protective position around Ikoku and then quickly raised it again upon discovering her clothes were gone.

"Uh, sorry!" Ikoku apologized as soon as she realized what was wrong.

"It's okay. Understandable." He said in a strained voice as he quickly unattached his cape and draped it over her.

She quickly wrapped it tightly around herself with a smile of thanks.

Tuxedo Mask then looked to Andrew who he found sitting on the roof and staring at Sailor Moon who sat a little ways away from him. Sailor Moon in turn was staring at Luna and Luna was staring right back.

After a moment, Luna stood up and walked up to Sailor Moon.

"It seems while we've been gone a new Sailor Scout has appeared. This is unexpected, but is a welcome development." She said warmly as she sat beside Sailor Moon.

The girls quickly stopped commenting on Artemis's odor and turned to them.

"Yes, her name is Sailor Moon!" Venus explained.

"Sailor Moon?" Luna repeated thoughtfully. "There was never a Sailor Moon before. I'm not all that surprised though. Help takes on many unexpected forms."

"Like him for instance?" Jupiter added, pointing to Andrew.

Andrew looked up at her with wide eyes.

"Hey, I didn't ask for this!" He exclaimed, raising his hands in an attempt to ward her off. "I'm still sorting through my memories of another life, so please leave me out of it for the time being!"

The cats and the girls giggled.

"What's wrong, Sailor Moon?" Tuxedo Mask asked, suddenly noticing that she was looking around worriedly.

"Several things." Sailor Moon responded, not looking at him. "The beautiful roses we worked so hard with to make a beautiful garden for Darien is destroyed, I can't see Darien anywhere, and I have this bad feeling. The kind of feeling one gets when one knows a shark is nearby, but can't see it."

Andrew, Ikuko and the cats didn't know what to say to that. Mercury, Mars, Venus and Jupiter looked toward Tuxedo Mask.

He rose to his feet and stiffly walked over to Sailor Moon. Once beside her, he knelt and removed his thin white mask.

"As to the garden, it was a beautiful garden." He told her softly, and smiled when her face lit up with recognition, relief and then happiness. "And I thank you for it. I enjoyed it while I had it and I appreciate all that you put into it. As to where am I, I'm right here."

Sailor Moon beamed and looked like she might leap and hug him, but she controlled herself. Darien would've preferred that she had leapt and hugged him, he wouldn't have had a problem with it.

Then the smile slowly disappeared from Sailor Moon's face.

"What about the shark feeling? It remains." She informed him, her delicate eyebrows furrowing in worry.

Darien looked at the other scouts.

"We can't answer that one." Mars replied with an apologetic look.

Mercury whipped out her little compact computer and started flashing her fingers across the little keys.

"Yet." Venus added.

Everyone smiled slightly, even Sailor Moon.

"Um, the storm will be hitting us in exactly 3 minutes, I suggest Sailor Moon takes the chance to wet her fin while the rest of us takes shelter in the doorway over there." Mercury stated, still at work on her computer.

"Sounds like a plan." Venus replied cheerfully, still holding Artemis at arms length.

She was the first to start towards the door.

"Will you be okay?" Darien quietly asked Sailor Moon, as Andrew helped Ikuko to her feet.

Sailor Moon smiled assuringly at him.

"I'm okay and I'll be fine." She promised. "I'll join you all in a moment."

Darien nodded, placed his mask back on and rose to join the others on their way to the doorway that led back into the apartments. Halfway there he looked back in time to see Sailor Moon replaced by Serena and as her blue skirt and red boots disappeared, her legs started to merge.

Tuxedo Mask looked back at the group gathered in the doorway. They were talking to Miss Ikuko.

Just as he reached the doorway he heard a yelp behind him.

He turned with a jerk, reaching for a rose, and then he heard--

"LUNA! YOU DO NOT EAT SERENA!" Mars shouted angrily above the thunder that could now be heard. "BAD CAT!"

When Tuxedo Mask focused on Serena he saw that she was holding her tail up in the air and Luna was dangling from it by the mouth, right where the knees would be on a human.

In the time it took for his mind to comprehend this, Mars was there prying Luna's mouth open.

"I'm so sorry Serena!" Mars apologized hurriedly, lifting Luna up by the scruff as soon as she let go.

Feeling the hand around her scruff, Luna finally came to her senses.

She was appropriately horrified.

"I'm so sorry, Serena! I was hungry and suddenly I smelled fish and saw scales. I didn't have a clue mermaids existed, I just saw a big fish! I'm so sorry!" Luna apologized, as Mars started back toward the doorway.

"It's okay, I'm fine." Serena replied, smiling through her pain and even waved a little.

Once Mars had her back turned, Serena immediately started rubbing the area, silently urging the rain to hurry.

As Mars rejoined the group by the door, holding Luna firmly in her arms, Tuxedo Mask watched Serena closely.

Serena sighed and stopped rubbing her fin. The wind was whipping up again, naturally this time, and her hair was gently blowing into her face, but she made no move to try and control it.

Instead she just sat there and watched as the first sight of the promised rain came into view. It was like a silver shining curtain rushing toward them.

Tuxedo Mask, though only slightly reassured of her safety, turned back to the group.

"--gave her all the information I know. She now knows everything. I hope it helps." Ikuko finished saying.

"After she's had a chance to rest, we'll be able to ask her some questions." Mercury replied, still staring at her computer.

"Speaking of rest, you and the cats need to rest too." Jupiter added. "I don't have a clue what just happened to you Miss Ikuko, but it was definitely not healthy. And Luna and Artemis have some questions to answer as well, once they've rested up. "

"Sounds good to me." Ikuko replied, staring out toward Serena.

The rain was only yards away and Serena had her head and hands lifted in anticipation.

"By the way, Tuxedo Mask." Mars drew all their attentions to her. "You have some explaining to do yourself."

Tuxedo Mask smiled sheepishly.

"I'll try---" He started to say, but was interrupted by a cell phone ringtone.

"That's not mine." Jupiter stated.

"Not mine either." Mercury added.

"I wouldn't be caught dead with that ringtone." Mars stated firmly.

"My batter is dead." Venus muttered.

"Mine's in my apartment." Tuxedo Mask added.

"I don't have one, and I'm sure Serena and the cats don't either." Ikuko said quietly.

That left Andrew.

"Yeah, it's mine, but how do you propose I get it?" He asked when they all looked at him. "I mean, I'm no longer wearing jeans anymore, am I?"

"Picture yourself detransforming." Tuxedo Mask told him.

Andrew closed his eyes and pictured exactly that.

His blue and white striped T-shirt and blue jeans came back instantly and he reached for his pocket.

He flipped his phone open just as the last ring was sounding.

"Hey, Kito, I'm kinda' busy right now--" Andrew started to say, but Kito's panic stricken voice interrupted him.

"GET OUT OF THE RAIN ANDREW! DON'T LET THE RAIN TOUCH YOU!"

"Hey, Kito, calm down! What's wrong?" Andrew cried.

"A few minutes ago the rain started coming down and people started dropping like flies!" Kito explained in a rush. "Some people rushed out of the stores and restaurants here to try and see what was wrong, but the minute the rain hit them they dropped too. I'm holed up in the Crown Arcade with a few people who managed to make it inside. Dude, you've got to get inside too!"

"Okay, stay there, everything will be fine." Andrew said in a rush, and without waiting for a reply from Kito, he flipped the phone closed and at the same time screamed out, "SERENA!"

Serena turned to look at him and smiled as she waited for him to continue.

He ran toward her, shouting for her to not let the rain touch her. The others didn't know what was wrong, but everyone except Ikuko ran out with Andrew.

Serena understood a moment too late.

Just as her smile vanished the rain hit her.

Her breath left her in one quick gush, her eyelids fluttered shut, her skin paled as she fell to the floor and though it hurt when her head struck the concrete she was too deep asleep to feel it.

The others called out to her, but the rain washed over them before they got to her and they fell too.

The only ones left standing was the two cats and Ikuko who all still stood within the damaged doorway.

"The rain is not normal!" Luna cried and Ikuko felt that she was stating the obvious.

"What should we do--!" Ikuko tried to ask and then stopped when she saw someone materialize from just beyond the roof's edge.

A man with short blonde hair and wearing the same uniform that Nephrite was wearing, floated over to the roof and knelt just behind Serena.

Ikuko watched as he lifted Serena up in his arms.

"HEY!" Ikuko yelled as she pulled Tuxedo Mask's cape up over her head and ran toward them.

The man looked up at her, and though he noticed that the cape was dimly glowing gold and that Ikuko was not effected by the rain, it didn't matter.

He had what he wanted.

He pulled Serena close to him, her tail falling limply over his arm, pressed his cheek up against her golden hair and smiled an evil smile at Ikuko.

Then he leapt backwards off the roof, into a black portal just like Nephrite's, and disappeared with Serena.

Realizing she was too late to help, Ikuko fell to her knees onto the concrete and stared off into the darkening clouds.


	18. Time is Slipping Away

Tear Pearls

By LadyPrin

Disclaimer Applies.

Thanks to scoliosisr2d2, uranusfan1, ValkyrieCeles (Thank you for letting me know about that typo, I went and corrected it. Thank you very much!), Unknown For Some Reason, Richforce, TsukiyoTenshi, bakagirl123, and to all those who faved!

Chapter Nineteen may be a long one so it may take me a couple weeks or so to write it up, which is why I'm posting this little bit now. I'll start writing on the next chapter tomorrow and hope I get it finished sooner than I expect to. ^-^

Enjoy!

Chapter Eighteen ~*~ Time is Slipping Away ~*~

_'Is this nightmare ever to end?' _Kenji silently thought.

He would've spoken out loud just to hear a familiar voice, but his mouth was too parched.

He had just woken from a restless sleep, a sleep that had been brought on by exhaustion rather than tiredness.

He still hung from chains within the black prison. His wrists had started bleeding long ago, but though they still hurt they had stopped bleeding when he quit struggling against them. The water that the woman in purple had thrown on him, he didn't know how long ago, was almost completely dried up now.

The stubble of a beard that had started growing itched him something bad, but he had no way to scratch it.

Limply he swung his head to the side so he could look to his left, not because he thought he'd see something other than darkness, but because if he didn't his neck was going to hurt worse than it already did.

But he did see something amongst the darkness, something bright that shouldn't have been there. It was bright gold, whatever it was and looking at it hurt Kenji's eyes for a few moments before he realized what he was looking at.

The realization gave him the strength to raise his head and speak aloud, though it pained him to do both.

"No, no, not you too, no!" He wanted to shout the words, but because of how bad his throat was parched the words came out no higher than a whisper. "Serena! Serena!"

Serena hung by her wrists in chains that were attached to the darkness just like Kenji's. She hung so close to him, but at the same time so far. He could've reached her fin with his if he had only had the strength to strain his fin toward her, but it was strength he didn't have. Her chin rested upon her chest and it looked like she was only sleeping, but she did not rouse when Kenji spoke.

"Serena! Serena my child, talk to me!" Kenji managed to make the last three words louder than the rest, but still she did not rouse.

Kenji understood that talking more was useless, so he quietly studied her and soon he was able to make out the short rise and fall of her chest. Her breathing was shallow, but she was breathing.

He relaxed, though only a little. He still feared for her, but there was nothing he could do except be there for her when she woke.

He was ashamed to admit even to himself, that the fleeting thought that she might not ever wake, had passed through his exhausted mind.

"Alright, that's the last one." Luna stated between gasps for breath.

It had taken them what felt like two hours, but what was probably only twenty minutes or so to pull all the sleeping Scouts, Tuxedo Mask and Andrew back inside the building. Ikuko had to do most of the work, though the cats had helped to keep the cape from falling off her. Then it had taken another twenty to thirty minutes to gently drag them one by one down the stairs and back into Darien's apartment. Venus was the last one to be dragged.

Once Ikuko had realized that she could do something to help the others even if she couldn't help Serena, she had immediately set about doing it. Placing the cape between her hands and whatever limb she took hold of to pull on so that the rain wouldn't touch her skin, she had managed to bring them all inside.

Now she and the cats collapsed on Darien's sofa, breathing hard. Ikuko was even starting to sniffle a bit.

"Now what?" Ikuko asked the cats, looking at them with tired eyes.

"Now, we wait." Luna replied. "We wait, and while we wait, we plan."

"I have a problem with the waiting part, but since we're also planning I guess that means we're doing something useful." Ikuko muttered, looking around. "Listen, I'm going to find some clothes to put on, I'm getting really chilled, and I'm sure Darien won't mind if I borrow some of his clothes."

The cats both nodded at her as she made her way to what she figured was the bedroom.

A minute later she came walking back across the living room, carefully stepping over the others.

"That was kitchen, so this must be the bedroom." She explained as she walked.

The cats smiled.

"It'd better be the bedroom." She added quietly as she disappeared through the door.

"So, Artemis." Luna started to say as the door to the bedroom swung softly shut. "Where do you think we should start?"

"Well." Artemis said as he softly leapt to the top of the back sofa cushions, curled up and looked down at Luna. "Most of the info we collected on our scouting trip is useless now, but do you think the portal to the Negaverse is still being used? Or do you think they'll close it now that they've got Serena?"

"I don't think they'll close it yet. They're still looking for the Crystal, and I don't think they have it yet, all they've got is a hostage, which hopefully they'll keep alive for a while longer." Luna replied, glancing over the sleeping scouts. "Once they wake, we can take them to the portal. Hopefully, it'll take us to where they're keeping Serena."

"Why wait until they wake?" Ikuko asked, stepping out of the bedroom clothed in a pair of blue jeans that were two sizes too big for her, held up by a black leather belt that almost wrapped around her waist twice, a white shirt that was so big it looked like a blouse and a big pair of gray tennis shoes that softly clumped as she walked. "The longer we wait the longer they have to try to get what they're looking for, and the longer they have to do who knows what with Serena and Kenji. I don't want to give them that time."

"If you're purposing that we go now, I must advise against it!" Luna cried sitting up right. "For one thing, if we leave who'll watch over them?"

She gestured toward the sleeping scouts and men.

"For another thing, once we pass through that portal we'll be at the mercy of any enemy we encounter. You have no powers of your own, at least it doesn't seem so, and the most Artemis and I have is our claws and teeth." Luna continued.

"If we stay here, what good are we to them?" Ikuko asked, waving a pale hand toward the others. "Like you said, I have no powers. If the Generals or something worse comes for them, I can't protect them even with your help, and who knows when they'll wake? But once we enter the Negaverse I can help navigate through it, for you forget I was hostess to Queen Beryl for years. Her memories are mine as well and I know that evil much better than you."

"I don't want to say it, but she does have a point Luna." Artemis agreed softly. "Even if we don't manage to find and free Serena or this Kenji person, us being there may well be a distraction that will give the others time to wake up."

Luna looked at them for a moment, before lowering her head and sighing in defeat.

"Fine, one of us will lead Miss Ikuko to the portal, while the other stays here to bring the Scouts up to date if they wake." Luna agreed. "I don't like it, but it's the only plan that looks like it'll work."

"Okay, it's settled." Ikuko stated firmly, heading toward the kitchen again. "Now you two decide which one will guide me, while I quickly go raid Darien's fridge."

It was worse than she feared it would be.

Everywhere she looked she saw humans sprawled on the ground or laying half on half off of something. The poisoned rain even seemed to make the human's big mechanical contraptions stop in mid motion.

From the water she had only seen the first three lines of humans fall, but walking the streets now she saw no soul awake.

In all the store windows and restaurant windows that she passed, no lights were on and what little movement she might have seen inside she could never identify.

She walked slowly down each street and with each passing minute that she didn't see the ones for whom she searched, she worried more.

If those three weren't here among the humans, then where could they be? She couldn't waste much more time searching blindly, though she couldn't think of anything else she could do instead.

Then she saw movement.

It was fleeting, but she was sure it had been there.

She turned down the street and made to follow the dimly glowing golden light that moved swiftly down the sleeping street.

"We're almost there, Miss Ikuko." Luna said assuredly from her perch in Ikuko's arm.

Ikuko held Luna with one arm while the other held on firmly to the cape she held over them as she walked quickly down the street being careful not to step on anyone.

Everywhere she looked people lay sleeping on and off the street, on the sidewalks, up against buildings. Cars were stopped in the middle of the streets as if they had been working and then just stopped. Thankfully Ikuko hadn't come across an accident, but she feared what might happen if the curse of sleep was lifted abruptly and the cars suddenly came alive again.

It was also a little creepy, seeing all this...

"Miss Ikuko, we're being followed!" Luna whispered, pawing her in the shoulder.

Ikuko spun around, barely managing to keep the cape from flying off of them.

There coming down the street was a beautiful and strange sight.

Coming towards them was a woman wearing a bright orange dress with yellow billowy sleeves and blue trim, bearing a two layered beep blue crown upon her long flaming red hair. It seemed to Ikuko that she was floating rather then walking.

The sight of her walking amongst all the sleeping people was not what made it strange, and a little frightening to Ikuko and Luna. It was the fact that surrounding her in a big bubble about an arm's length thick was water. She walked in what looked like a big water egg that moved with her as she moved. The water acted like a barrier between her and the cursed rain just like Darien's cape protected Ikuko.

The woman came to a stop three arm lengths away from Ikuko and they stared at each other for a moment.

Ikuko didn't know whether she should run or not, for the woman's eyes were red. Not glowing evil red, just red, like Luna's, but Luna wasn't evil.

_'Oh, we don't have time for this!' _Ikuko thought in frustration.

"What's your name, young lady?" The woman asked softly.

Ikuko waited a moment before responding.

"Ikuko. My name is Ikuko." She finally said. "And this is Luna."

"My name is Kakyuu." The woman responded.

"Are you a mermaid too?" Luna abruptly asked, for along with the water they could see, she could smell fish and other ocean scents.

Kakyuu stared at her for a moment.

"Yes." She finally admitted. "I am. I guess I'm not the first one you've seen."

"No, we've seen one other." Luna admitted.

"Only one?" Kakyuu asked her voice and eyes saddening. "I was hoping you'd seen at least three."

"No, just one, her name is Serena." Ikuko replied.

"Oh, I remember her. How is she?" Kakyuu asked. "I haven't seen her in years."

"She's been captured by the evil that caused this." Ikuko explained, gesturing around her. "We're trying to find and free her."

"Captured by evil?" Kakyuu repeated, her brow creasing with ever more worry. "That child won't last very long among evil, it'd more than likely cripple her if not kill her."

Kakyuu looked off down the street for a moment, back the way she had come, and then she looked back at Ikuko.

"May I come with you? I may be able to help if you do find her." Kakyuu offered.

"If you're willing to take the risk, we'd be most grateful!" Ikuko replied, bowing slightly.

"I'm willing." Kakyuu assured her as they resumed walking.

_'And maybe, just maybe...' _Kakyuu thought silently to herself. _'When we find Serena, my boys will be with her. My Seiya, Taiki and Yaten.'_


End file.
